The Reading of Midnight Sun
by highwayunicorns
Summary: A few weeks before the arrival of Isabella Swan to Forks, Carlisle receives an unfinished book from an unidentified author with a note stuck to it that tells him and his family to read it. Alice finds out why they need to, and forces the Cullens to sit down so they can. Thus, the journey of Edward discovering the identity of the girl he will inevitably fall in love with begins.
1. Chapter 1: First Sight

**A/N: Hi. So I once tried to write one of these stories – I got to like chapter five of Midnight Sun I believe – but then I sort of had a falling-out with Twilight (if you'd like to call it that) and it didn't seem right to keep writing a story when I no longer felt passionate about the characters in that story. I'm not going to say which fanfic was mine, but it's been a few years now, and I was re-reading Midnight Sun recently and I just thought, **_**gosh I wish I'd finished that one fanfic…**_**so here we go. Round two. Let's do this. I hope you enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Midnight Sun, nor any of the characters in it.**

Chapter One: First Sight

If somebody were to walk into the house right then, Alice was almost one hundred percent sure that they would think that her family were a bunch of normal people, enjoying a normal afternoon. Everybody was spread out, doing their own thing, and generally trying to pass the afternoon as quickly as possible. Alice and Rosalie were in Alice's room at her computer, clicking away and perfecting an elaborate refurbishing of Rosalie and Emmett's bedroom. Rosalie seemed content to allow her sister to do most of the work, only pointing out something she'd like to be different or commenting on the wrong choice of colour for a pillow. It was a totally mundane activity, but Alice enjoyed anything that would allow her to redecorate; she knew Rosalie loved the attention as well, even if it was only for her bedroom.

Emmett and Jasper had been focusing on wrestling all afternoon. However, they'd stopped merely trying to surprise the other with a sudden attack, and instead were discussing the finer details about what the other were doing wrong. Jasper had many things to say about Emmett on this subject, but Emmett didn't seem to notice the poke-fun.

Esme was in the living room, watching a human cooking show on the big TV. She couldn't cook herself – or definitely not as elaborately as these humans were able to – but she was still fascinated. Anyway, she wouldn't be able to cook, as she'd have to taste it as she fixed it, wouldn't she? The humans were doing that. She _was _a little distracted though, as she could hear the soft sound of Edward playing the piano drifting down to her, and she couldn't help but listen to it with a happy smile on her face. When Edward played, she was always happy.

The sound of Carlisle's Mercedes coming down the long driveway made Edward pause. Esme looked up at him in confusion, knowing that he must be listening to her husband's thoughts.

"Edward?" She asked. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure…" Edward drifted off; he, too, looked confused. Hearing their words and naturally being curious, the rest of the Cullens came into the living room, looking expectant.

"It's probably nothing," Edward assured them all. "Carlisle just sounds a little concerned."

"I have every reason to be," Carlisle mused, coming in through the garage door. Esme got up and kissed him quickly, making him smile and wrap one arm around her waist in response. "This came for me today at the hospital," he lifted up a brown paper bag, which looked and seemed totally insignificant and non-dangerous. The Cullens visibly relaxed.

"_That _is what you're concerned about? _Really, _Carlisle?" Rosalie rolled her eyes, and turned to head back up the stairs to Alice's room. "Come on, Alice. We were really onto something there."

"No, Rose…" Alice said thoughtfully, in a dazed voice, as she stared at nothing in particular. "I think Carlisle's right…"

Edward looked at her sharply, and she quickly started thinking about whatever she could to keep him out of her thoughts. "Edward, that is impolite. I just wanted to see what could be in there."

"I can't help it when you think something as strange as _that,_" Edward defended himself. "Alice thinks a book is in there."

"I _know _a book is in there because I looked at it earlier," Carlisle confirmed. "It had a note on it addressed specifically to me, which is why I'm concerned. I mean, what kind of person leaves a book to me?"

"Whoever sent it," Emmett suggested helpfully. Jasper smirked.

Alice took the bag out of Carlisle's hand, and pulled out the book, throwing the bag to the floor. Immediately she frowned. "This doesn't really look like a book. It looks more like…a manuscript or something. It doesn't look very long, and it's not bound."

"Maybe it's unfinished," Edward stepped closer to it.

Rosalie looked between them both, a look of utter incredulity on her face. "I am never going to understand you two. It's a book someone wanted Carlisle to read. Who cares?"

Alice looked up at her sharply, and held up another post-it note that Carlisle must have failed to see. "Well, Rose, let's find out. This is from the person who sent the book to Carlisle."

_Dear Carlisle Cullen,_

_You don't know me, obviously. I know you, but don't worry, what you're holding isn't dangerous. At least, not in the sense you're thinking. This is going to sound a little strange, but I wrote this story while thinking of you and your family, and I think it would be very beneficial to you all if you sat and read this together. Especially Edward, but well, you'll find out why later._

_If you're not real and this is delivered to nobody, then disregard this message. The story isn't finished at any rate, but whether you like it or not in two weeks I will be sending another book to the same address I sent this one. That other book is the companion to this one. Please, if you are real, then I really, really encourage you to do as I say. You won't be disappointed._

_- SM_

"'Especially Edward'," Edward quoted, frowning. "Well, I'll bite. I want to know why she wants us to read this and why on earth she doesn't think we're real."

"I agree. She seems to know us quite well, yet she also thinks we might not be real?" Jasper frowned also. "It sounds weird. I'd like to read it as well."

Alice nodded and turned the page, where another post-it note was stuck. Her eyes quickly scanned it; and they widened as she absorbed what it said, her mouth falling into an 'O'.

"What, Alice? What are you hiding?" Edward turned on her, trying to discern whatever it was she had purposely stopped thinking about.

"Nothing," Alice looked up at him with a look of surprise. "Okay, I know why she wants us to read this now, and trust me when I say we _definitely _need to."

Jasper looked at her now, reading her face. She was definitely trying to hide whatever it was she knew from Edward, but he could see the evident surprise that lingered in her expression.

"Well, if Alice says we're doing something we always end up doing it, so I guess we shouldn't fight it." Emmett conceded, falling onto the large couch with a sigh. Rosalie moved and sat next to him quietly, looking intrigued but still incredulous that they were fascinated by a book, of all things.

The other Cullens laughed at this, and sat on the couch also, in silent agreement. Alice still held the book, and she turned the page once more, ready to start. With one more amazed look at Edward, she began reading.

**"This was the time of day when I wished I were able to sleep."**

"Sleeping's overrated," Emmett muttered, winking at Rose. "I can think of _plenty _more things that are better than sleeping."

"Emmett!" Edward groaned. "It's too early for those kinds of thoughts!"

"**High school."**

"Do you…do you think this could be about _us?_" Rosalie spoke up, finally looking interested in the story.

"It could be. Not being able to sleep and high school kind of go along with our descriptions," Jasper joked.

"No, a typical teenage human would think the same thing," Carlisle said matter-of-factly, not noticing the amused grins of the younger Cullens.

"**Or was purgatory the right word? If there **_**was **_**any way to atone for my sins, this ought to count toward the tally in some measure. The tedium was not something I grew used to; every day seemed more impossibly monotonous than the last."**

"Ugh, agreed," Alice sighed.

"This person is using really big words. Do you know who else uses really big words?" Emmett said, looking pointedly at Edward.

"It could literally be anybody all and yet you immediately think it's Edward?" Jasper raised his eyebrows.

"Sure. I mean, it could be."

"**I suppose this **_**was **_**my form of sleep – if sleep was defined as the inert state between active periods.**

**I stared at the cracks running through the plaster in the far corner of the cafeteria, imagining patterns into them that were not there. It was one way to tune out the voices that babbled like a gush of a river inside my head."**

"Aha!" Emmett pointed at Edward. "It _is _you!"

"Well, I'm not wrong," Edward chuckled. "That is how I spend most of the time we're in the cafeteria."

"How enjoyable," Rosalie muttered.

**"Several hundred of these voices I ignored out of boredom.**

**When it came to the human mind, I'd heard it all before and then some. Today, all thoughts were consumed with the trivial drama of a new addition to the small student body here. It took so little to work them all up. I'd seen the new face repeated in thought after thought from every angle. Just an ordinary human girl."**

"Edward," Esme scolded him. "That's not a very nice thing to think."

"I'm still right," Edward shrugged. "Humans are just too predictable."

Esme glared at him silently, and he apologised.

**"The excitement over her arrival was tiresomely predictable – like flashing a shiny object at a child. Half the sheep-like males were already imagining themselves in love with her, -"**

"I guess I understand how that could be annoying," Esme agreed.

"Yeah, because Edward just can't understand the concept of love," Jasper nodded, teasing him. Edward rolled his eyes.

**"- just because she was someone new to look at. I tried harder to tune them out."**

"Well, that's definitely not good at all," Esme's eyes tightened slightly.

"They have me to look at. I doubt they'll look at this girl for long," Rosalie assured her. Emmett frowned at this.

**"Only four voices did I block out of courtesy rather than distaste: my family,"**

"Hey! That's us!" Emmett perked up, looking pretty excited.

**"My two brothers and two sisters, who were so used to the lack of privacy in my presence that they rarely gave it a thought. I gave them what privacy I could. I tried not to listen if I could help it.**

**Try as I may, still… I knew.**

**Rosalie was thinking, as usual, about herself. She'd caught sight of her profile in the reflection off someone's glasses, and she was mulling over her own perfection.**

**Rosalie's mind was a shallow pool with few surprises."**

Rosalie turned and glared at Edward. _Seriously!?_

"You know it's true," Edward said quietly, trying to hide his amusement. Rosalie hissed warningly at him, but he could hear the slight agreement in her thoughts.

**"Emmett,"**

"THAT'S ME!" Emmett cheered.

Alice simply looked at him pityingly, and continued reading. **"Was fuming over a wrestling match he'd lost to Jasper during the night. It would take all his limited patience to make it to the end of the school day to orchestrate a rematch. I never really felt intrusive hearing Emmett's thoughts, because he never thought one thing that he would not say aloud or put into action."**

"'_Never really felt intrusive',_" Emmett quoted. "Does that mean you don't feel intrusive when Rose and I are…"

Rosalie quickly hit him to shut him up, to which Edward was thankful.

**"Perhaps I only felt guilty reading the others' minds because I knew there were things there that they wouldn't want me to know.**

**If Rosalie's mind was a shallow pool, then Emmett's was a lake with no shadows, glass clear.**

**And Jasper was…suffering. I suppressed a sigh.**

**_Edward. _Alice called my name in her head, and had my attention at once.**

**It was just the same as having my name called aloud. I was glad my given name had fallen out of style lately – it had been annoying; anytime anyone thought of any Edward, my head would turn automatically…"**

"Isn't it lucky all of our names aren't really popular nowadays," Alice observed.

"Sure, but you aren't the one who can hear those names in your head all the time. It can be extremely annoying, like I just said." Edward replied. "I'll literally turn to whoever just thought my name or any one of ours. You don't need to worry about doing that."

"Very true."

**"My head didn't turn now. Alice and I were good at these private conversations. It was rare that anyone caught us."**

"Well we'll just have to change that won't we?" Jasper looked questioningly at Alice. She giggled.

**"I kept my eyes on the plaster.**

**_How is he holding up? _she asked me."**

"And you're talking about me, too," Jasper sighed, knowing exactly why Alice would ask this.

Alice kissed his cheek to soothe him. "You know I worry about you, Jazzy."

"Yeah, but…"

"No 'buts'. I love you, and I'm going to ask Edward – who has a direct link to your thoughts, by the way – whether you're doing okay or not," Alice touched the tip of his nose affectionately, and he seemed to cheer up slightly.

**"I frowned, just a small change in the set of my mouth. Nothing that would tip the others off. I could easily be frowning out of boredom."**

"Okay, I have _got _to pay more attention to you two," Emmett exclaimed, looking between both Edward and Alice. "That's not fair that you two have your little private conversations which we don't hear about!"

"We do it so that you don't make a huge scene out of everything," Edward replied calmly. "Not just you, though – every one of you would do this as well, so Alice and I like to keep things just between us."

"Or you just like the fact that you have superpowers and like to keep those superpowers among those who _have _superpowers," Emmett retorted, looking put out. Rosalie cracked an amused grin when she saw his upset face.

**"Alice's mental tone was alarmed now, and I saw in her mind that she was watching Jasper in her peripheral vision. _Is there any danger? _She searched ahead, into the immediate future, skimming through visions of monotony for the source behind my frown."**

"I wish you'd describe Alice's visions more," Carlisle said, intrigued, but annoyed. "This is the first time we'll get to see how you and Alice's powers work – and you don't even bother to explain it in more detail."

"Sorry, Carlisle, but I didn't write this, and since it's such a normal thing for me now I'm not going to be as interested as you would be." Edward smiled slightly. "Complain to the author, I suppose." _Although we only have an 'SM' to go by…_

"Yes, I know, but this is fascinating and you're not helping much," Carlisle grinned at him.

**"I turned my head slowly to the left, as if looking at the bricks of the wall, sighed, and then to the right, back to the cracks in the ceiling. Only Alice knew I was shaking my head."**

"And the rest of us!" Emmett complained.

"Em, book Edward can't hear you," Jasper laughed.

**"She relaxed. _Let me know if it gets too bad._**

**I moved only my eyes, up to the ceiling above, and back down.**

**_Thanks for doing this._**

**I was glad I couldn't answer aloud. What would I say? 'My pleasure'? It was hardly that. I didn't enjoy listening to Jasper's struggles. Was it really necessary to experiment like this? Wouldn't the safer path be to just admit that he never might be able to handle the thirst the way the rest of us could, and not push his limits? Why flirt with disaster?"**

Jasper sighed, looking down at his hands and frowning. His thoughts were filled with all of the anger and frustration he felt at his inability to control himself the way the rest of the Cullens were able to do, and sensing this, Alice got up out of her spot and snuggled into him. He smiled slightly and wrapped his arms around her, trying to draw on her own happiness to calm himself down.

**"It had been two weeks since our last hunting trip."**

"See, Jazzy? That explains why you aren't doing so well," Alice said, trying to help him. "Two weeks is a rather long time with no blood – you shouldn't be so hard on yourself."

"I try not to, but you guys seem to always be fine…" Jasper trailed off, trying not to look in the eyes of the other Cullens in his shame.

Esme smiled warmly at him. "You are the newest one to this lifestyle, remember Jasper? And you will always have us here to make sure you won't do anything. If you need to hunt more frequently, then just tell us."

"Thank you," Alice mouthed at him.

**"That was not an immensely difficult time span for the rest of us. A little uncomfortable occasionally – if a human walked too close, if the wind blew the wrong way. But humans rarely walked too close. Their instincts told them what their conscious minds would never understand: we were dangerous.**

**Jasper was very dangerous right now."**

"So you _lied_ to me?" Alice gasped.

"I'm sure he's fine," Edward assured her.

**"At that moment, a small girl paused at the end of the table closest to ours, stopping to talk to a friend. She tossed her short, sandy hair, running her fingers through it. The heaters blew her scent in our direction."**

Jasper froze, and Alice looked at him worryingly, before glaring at Edward. _Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, you _better _tell me the truth in the future or I'm going to personally hand you over to the Volturi._

Edward smirked. "Okay, Alice."

**"At that moment, a small girl paused at the end of the table closest to ours, stopping to talk to a friend. She tossed her short, sandy hair, running her fingers through it. The heaters blew her scent in our direction."**

Jasper put his face into his hands, trying to calm down. _I can't listen to this…_

"It will be _fine,_" Alice reassured him. "Edward hasn't hunted for the same amount of time as you and the rest of us, Jazz. He's just a little more observant of these things right now."

**"I was used to the way that scent made me feel – the dry ache in my throat, the hollow yearn in my stomach, the automatic tightening of muscles, the excess flow of venom in my mouth…**

**This was all quite normal, usually easy to ignore. It was harder just now, with the feelings stronger, doubled, as I monitored Jasper's reaction. Twin thirsts, rather than just mine."**

"Okay, if this book is about Jasper and Edward going on a mass murdering spree in the Forks High School cafeteria, we should bust out the popcorn," Emmett grinned in glee.

"_Emmett._" Esme said sharply. "Not only is that very rude to both of your brothers, but you also can't even _eat _popcorn."

"I thought that's what a human might do."

"Get out some popcorn while they read about two vampires who might be about to go around and kill a bunch of teenagers? Yeah, I'm sure that's what they'd do," Rosalie muttered sarcastically.

**"Jasper was letting his imagination get away from him. He was picturing it – picturing himself getting up from his seat next to Alice and going to stand beside the little girl. Thinking of leaning down and in, as if he were going to whisper in her ear, and letting his lips touch the arch of her throat. Imagining how the hot flow of her pulse beneath the fine skin would feel under his mouth…"**

Jasper groaned, and pulled on his hair in his anxious state. He was trying not to remember the way it felt to do that to a human, Edward could hear from his thoughts.

**"I kicked his chair."**

Alice, Esme, Rosalie and Carlisle breathed a sigh of relief at this.

_Thank God, _Rosalie thought, trying to appear unconcerned at this turn of events. Edward hid his smile.

**"He met my gaze for a minute, and then looked down. I could hear shame and rebellion war inside his head.**

**"Sorry." Jasper muttered.**

**I shrugged.**

**"You weren't going to do anything," Alice murmured to him, soothing his chagrin. "I could see that."**

"Are _you _lying now?" Jasper accused her.

Alice sighed. "Probably." _I wish I wasn't, though._

**"I fought back the grimace that would give her lie away. We had to stick together, Alice and I. It wasn't easy, hearing voices or seeing visions of the future. Both freaks among those who were already freaks."**

"Hmm," Emmett pondered this new information. "Maybe I should assign you both new nicknames. Shortie and Eddie are getting a little old, don't you think? Maybe Freak One and Freak Two would suit you both better."

"_Really?_" Edward laughed. "We are hardly characters out of a Dr. Seuss book, Emmett."

"Wasn't that Thing One and Thing Two…?" Esme mused, trying to remember. _I'm positive it was._

**"We protected each other's secrets.**

**"It helps a little if you think of them as people," Alice suggested, her high, musical voice too fast for human ears to understand, if any had been close enough to hear."**

"Why are we such loners?" Emmett complained again.

"Is this all you ever going to do while we read this? Complain?" Rosalie looked at him, amused.

"It bugs me."

"We're loners because we're _vampires,_" Alice shook her head. "Sometimes I really worry about you, Em."

**"Her name is Whitney. She has a baby sister she adores. Her mother invited Esme to that garden party, do you remember?"**

"Oh!" Esme exclaimed. "I remember that! Lovely party. Lovely mother, too!"

"You think everybody's lovely," Carlisle smiled at her.

"This is true, but some people are nicer than others," she smiled back at him.

**"I know who she is," Jasper muttered curtly. He turned away to stare out one of the small windows that were spaced just under the eaves of the long room. His tone ended the conversation.**

**He would have to hunt tonight."**

"Definitely," Jasper nodded in agreement.

**"It was ridiculous to take risks like this, trying to test his strength, build his endurance."**

"I'm sorry, Jasper," Carlisle turned towards him. "That was my idea. We will work within your limits from now on, now that I can see how much of a stupid idea it was."

"It wasn't stupid," Jasper tried to argue. "But yes, I think we shouldn't use it."

**"Jasper should just accept his limitations and work within them. His former habits were not conducive to our chosen lifestyle; he shouldn't push himself this way.**

**Alice sighed silently and stood,"**

Emmett frowned at this, and began trying to do just that.

**"Taking her tray of food – her prop, as it were – with her and leaving him alone. She knew when he'd had enough of her encouragement. Though Rosalie and Emmett were more flagrant about their relationship, it was Alice and Jasper who knew each other's every mood as well as their own. As if they could read minds, too – only just each other's."**

Alice and Jasper smiled at each other as this was read.

"I couldn't agree with Edward more," Jasper said, kissing the top of Alice's head.

**"_Edward Cullen._**

**Reflex reaction. I turned to the sound of my name being called, though it wasn't being called, just thought.**

**My eyes locked for a small portion of a second with a pair of wide, chocolate-brown human eyes set in a pale, heart-shaped face."**

Something seemed to dawn on Edward, because he exhaled rather abruptly, so everyone turned to look at him expectantly.

"I know who the new girl is," Edward explained. "Her name is Isabella Swan – the Chief's daughter – and she's moving here from Phoenix in a few weeks' time."

"How do you know that?" Esme asked curiously.

"It's all the majority of the school's population is thinking about," Edward sighed. "I'm already sick of her, and she hasn't even arrived yet."

"Edward," Esme scolded him. "That is impolite."

"I'm sorry," he said sheepishly.

_I disagree with you. You know so much about her because you stalk her, right? Edward got a little wee crush? _Emmett thought, smirking.

Edward rolled his eyes. "_Sure._"

_That's a big change, though – sunny Phoenix to rainy Forks? Could there be two more different locations? _Carlisle was thinking. Edward silently agreed.

**"I knew the face, though I'd never seen it myself before this moment. It had been foremost in every human head today. The new student, Isabella Swan. Daughter of the town's chief of police, brought to live here by some new custody situation. Bella. She'd corrected everyone who'd used her full name…**

**I looked away, bored. It took me a second to realize that she had not been the one to think my name.**

**_Of course she's already crushing on the Cullens, _I heard the first voice continue.**

**Now I recognized the 'voice.' Jessica Stanley – it had been a while since she'd bothered me with her internal chatter. What a relief it had been when she'd gotten over her misplaced infatuation."**

Emmett blinked, and then burst into laughter. _"What!?" _He laughed. "Are you _kidding me?! _Jessica freakin' _Stanley _had a crush on you?"

"Awww, how cute!" Alice clapped, also deeply amused.

"Do you need some advice on love, Edward?" Rosalie teased him.

"Shut _up_," Edward muttered.

**"It used to be nearly impossible to escape her constant, ridiculous daydreams."**

"Awww, she was daydreaming about you? That's adorable!" Alice giggled.

"You should have told us earlier, Edward! We could have helped you!" Jasper grinned at him.

Esme was the only one who didn't find this funny. She still wasn't happy about the fact that everyone in her family had somebody to love yet Edward didn't.

**"I'd wished, at the time, that I could explain to her _exactly _what would have happened if my lips, and the teeth behind them, had gotten anywhere near her. That would have silenced the annoying fantasies. The thought of her reaction almost made me smile.**

**_Fat lot of good it will do her, _Jessica went on. _She's really not even pretty. I don't know why Eric is staring so much…or Mike."_**

Rosalie glared at the book as if she wanted it to incinerate from her simply looking at it. "I _hate _girls like that."

"As do I," Edward agreed, picturing Isabella's face in his head. She was very pretty, he had to admit.

**"She winced mentally on the last name. Her new infatuation, the generically popular Mike Newton, was completely oblivious to her. Apparently, he was not as oblivious to the new girl. Like the child with the shiny object again. This put a mean edge to Jessica's thoughts, though she was outwardly cordial to the newcomer as she explained to her the commonly known knowledge about our family."**

"I hate girls like that even _more,_" Rosalie kept glaring.

"Calm down, Rose," Jasper sent a wave of calmness towards her, and she visibly relaxed.

**"The new student must have asked about us.**

**_Everyone's looking at me today, too, _Jessica thought smugly in an aside. _Isn't it lucky Bella had two classes with me…I'll bet Mike will want to ask me what she's-"_**

"She definitely doesn't sound like someone this Isabella – or Bella, I should say – should have as a friend," Esme tilted her head. "Humans can be so mean."

**"I tried to block the inane chatter out of my head before the petty and the trivial could drive me mad.**

**"Jessica Stanley is giving the new Swan girl all the dirty laundry on the Cullen clan," I murmured to Emmett as a distraction.**

**He chuckled under his breath. _I hope she's making it good, _he thought.**

**"Rather unimaginative, actually. Just the barest hint of scandal. Not an ounce of horror. I'm a little disappointed."**

**_And the new girl? Is she disappointed in the gossip as well?_**

**I listened to hear what this new girl, Bella, thought of Jessica's story. What did she see when she looked at the strange, chalky-skinned family that was universally avoided?"**

"Imagine if she thought we were vampires, straight away," Emmett joked. "Wouldn't that be hilarious?"

"Indeed," Rosalie rolled her eyes. "We'd have to leave, like _immediately, _if that happened, Em."

"I guess that would be a bad thing…" Emmett looked quite upset.

**"It was sort of my responsibility to know her reaction. I acted as a lookout, for lack of a better word, for my family. To protect us. If anyone ever grew suspicious, I could give us an early warning and an easy retreat. It happened occasionally – some human with an active imagination would see in us the characters of a book or movie. Usually they got it wrong, but it was better to move on somewhere new than to risk scrutiny.**

**Very, very rarely, someone would guess right. We didn't give them a chance to test their hypothesis. We simply disappeared, to become no more than a frightening memory…**

**I heard nothing, though I listened close beside where Jessica's frivolous internal monologue continued to gush. It was as if no one was sitting beside her. How peculiar, had the girl moved? That didn't seem likely, as Jessica was still babbling to her. I looked up to check, feeling off-balance. Checking on what my extra 'hearing' could tell me – it wasn't something I ever had to do."**

All of the Cullens seemed confused.

"Hmm," Carlisle mused. "I wonder…"

**"Again, my gaze locked on those same wide brown eyes. She was sitting right where she had been before, and looking at us, a natural thing to be doing, I supposed, as Jessica was still regaling her with the local gossip about the Cullens.**

**Thinking about us, too, would be natural.**

**But I couldn't hear a whisper."**

"Exclamation mark!" Emmett exclaimed.

"I'm with you, Emmett. Holy _crap!_" Jasper also exclaimed.

"Is that even _possible?_" Edward seemed incredulous, but deeply disturbed by this new information.

"It _must_ be," Carlisle was very surprised indeed. "This Isabella – I mean, Bella – is keeping you out somehow. Some natural talent? Does she even _know? _Perhaps she is supernatural herself…" Carlisle was now off into another land, thinking about various theories to do with Edward's inability to read her mind.

"Do you understand what this _means?" _Emmett said, excitedly.

"What, Emmett?" They said together, not sure if they wanted to hear the answer.

"There is somebody out there that can actually keep secrets from Edward! I like this girl already."

"You're right!" Alice laughed, and everyone bar Edward joined in, as he still looked shocked to his core.

**"Inviting warm red stained her cheeks as she looked down, away from the embarrassing gaffe of getting caught staring at a stranger. It was good that Jasper was still gazing out the window. I didn't like to imagine what that easy pooling of blood would do to his control.**

**The emotions had been as clear on her face as if they were spelled out in words across her forehead: surprise, as she unknowingly absorbed the signs of the subtle differences between her kind and mine, curiosity, as she listened to Jessica's tale, and something more…fascination? It wouldn't be the first time. We were beautiful to them, our intended prey. Then, finally, embarrassment as I caught her staring at me.**

**And yet, though her thoughts had been so clear in her odd eyes – odd, because of the depth to them; brown eyes often seemed flat in their darkness – I could hear nothing but silence from the place she was sitting. Nothing at all.**

**I felt a moment of unease."**

"Yep, Edward's entire world was just shattered," Emmett laughed.

**"This was nothing I'd ever encountered before. Was there something wrong with me? I felt exactly the same as I always did. Worried, I listened harder.**

**All the voices I'd been blocking were suddenly shouting in my head.**

**…_wonder what music she likes…maybe I could mention that new CD…_Mike Newton was thinking, two tables away – fixated on Bella Swan.**

**_Look at him staring at her. Isn't it enough that he has half the girls in school waiting for him to…_Eric Yorkie was thinking sulfurous thoughts, also revolving around the girl.**

**…_so disgusting. You'd think she was famous or something… Even Edward _Cullen, _staring…_Lauren Mallory was so jealous that her face, by all rights, should be dark jade in colour. _And Jessica, flaunting her new best friend. What a joke… _Vitriol continued to spew from the girl's thoughts.**

**…_I bet everyone has asked her that. But I'd like to talk to her. I'll think of a more original question…_Ashley Dowling mused.**

**…_maybe she'll be in my Spanish…_June Richardson hoped.**

**…_tons left to do tonight! Trig, and the English test. I hope my mum…_Angela Weber, a quiet girl, whose thoughts were unusually kind, was the only one at the table who wasn't obsessed with this Bella.**

**I could hear them all, hear every insignificant thing they were thinking as it passed through their minds. But nothing at all from the new student with the deceptively communicative eyes.**

**And, of course, I could hear what the girl said when she spoke to Jessica. I didn't have to read minds to be able to hear her low, clear voice on the far side of the long room.**

**"Which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair?-"**

"Awww," Alice giggled. "She's asking about you, Edward!"

"Of course she is, she saw me looking at her," Edward didn't seem to find this strange at all.

**"I heard her ask, sneaking a look at me from the corner of her eye, only to look away quickly when she saw that I was still staring.**

**If I'd had time to hope that hearing the sound of her voice would help me pinpoint the tone of her thoughts, lost somewhere where I couldn't access them, I was instantly disappointed. Usually, people's thoughts came to them in a similar pitch as their physical voices. But this quiet, shy voice was unfamiliar, not one of the hundreds of thoughts bouncing around the room, I was sure of that. Entirely new.**

**_Oh, good luck, idiot! _Jessica thought before answering the girl's question."**

Rosalie growled.

"Why are you defending Isab–Bella, I mean?" Esme asked.

"I already said, I hate girls like this Jessica. Never have, never will. It has nothing to do with the strange human."

**"That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him." She sniffed.**

**I turned my head away to hide my smile. Jessica and her classmates had no idea how lucky they were that none of them particularly appealed to me.**

**Beneath the transient humour, I felt a strange impulse, one I did not clearly understand. It had something to do with the vicious edge to Jessica's thoughts that the new girl was unaware of… I felt the strangest urge to step in between them, to shield this Bella Swan from the darker workings of Jessica's mind. What an odd thing to feel. Trying to ferret out the motivations behind the impulse, I examined the new girl one more time.**

**Perhaps it was just some long buried protective instinct – the strong for the weak. This girl looked more fragile than her new classmates. Her skin was so translucent it was hard to believe it offered her much defence from the outside world. I could see the rhythmic pulse of blood through her veins under the clear, pale membrane… But I should not concentrate on that. I was good at this life I'd chosen, but I was just as thirsty as Jasper and there was no point in inviting temptation.**

**There was a faint crease between her eyebrows that she seemed unaware of.**

**It was unbelievably frustrating! I could clearly see that it was a strain for her to sit there, to make conversation with strangers, to be the centre of attention. I could sense her shyness, from the way she held her frail-looking shoulders, slightly hunched, as if she was expecting a rebuff at any moment. And yet I could only sense, could only see, could only imagine. There was nothing but silence from the very unexceptional human girl. I could hear nothing. Why?"**

"It's not fair," Edward agreed with himself.

"You know, the rest of us have to deal with that literally every day," Jasper raised his eyebrows.

"I don't know how you do it," Edward smirked.

**"Shall we?" Rosalie murmured, interrupting my focus."**

"How dare you, Rose? Interrupting Edward's focus like that, you should be ashamed," Emmett teased her. She playfully hit him on the shoulder.

**"I looked away from the girl with a sense of relief. I didn't want to continue to fail at this – it irritated me. And I didn't want to develop any interest in her hidden thoughts simply because they were hidden from me. No doubt, when I did decipher her thoughts – and I _would _find a way to do so – they would be just as petty and trivial as any human's thoughts."**

"Again, I agree," Edward nodded.

"You can't know that for sure," Esme disagreed with him.

"I have a pretty good idea."

**"Not worth the effort I would expend to reach them.**

**"So, is the new one afraid of us yet?" Emmett asked, still waiting for my response to his question before."**

"Gosh, even _I'd _forgotten about that. That's a really, really long time in between question and answer, Edward," Emmett complained for the millionth time.

**"I shrugged. He wasn't interested enough to press for more information. Nor should I be interested."**

Esme smiled secretly, and Alice noticed this. Quickly winking at Esme to let her know that they were on the same page, she continued reading before Edward would notice.

**"We got up from the table and walked out of the cafeteria.**

**Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper were pretending to be seniors; they left for their classes. I was playing a younger role than they. I headed off for my junior level biology class, preparing my mind for the tedium. It was doubtful Mr. Banner, a man of no more than average intellect, would manage to pull out anything in his lecture that would surprise someone holding two graduate degrees in medicine.**

**In the classroom, I settled into my chair and let my books-props, again; they held nothing I didn't already know–spill across the table. I was the only student who had a table to himself. The human's weren't smart enough to _know _that they feared me, but their survival instincts were enough to keep them away.**

**The room slowly filled as they trickled in from lunch. I leaned back in my chair and waited for the time to pass. Again, I wished I was able to sleep.**

**Because I'd been thinking about her, when Angela Weber escorted the new girl through the door, her name intruded on my attention.**

**_Bella seems just as shy as me. I'll bet today is really hard for her. I wish I could say something…but it would probably just sound stupid…"_**

"She seems nice," Esme approved.

**"_Yes! _Mike Newton thought, turning in his seat to watch the girls enter.**

**Still, from the place where Bella Swan stood, nothing. The empty space where her thoughts should be irritated and unnerved me.**

**She came closer, walking down the aisle beside me to get to the teacher's desk. Poor girl; the seat next to me was the only one available. Automatically, I cleared what would be her side of the desk-"**

"That would really suck," Alice sighed. _Poor girl. Having to sit next to the only vampire in the class. _Her thoughts seemed sincere, but Edward could sense something – some emotion – that was hinting at them which he wasn't quite sure about.

**"-shoving my books into a pile. I doubted she would feel very comfortable there. She was in for a long semester–in this class, at least. Perhaps, though, sitting beside her, I'd be able to flush out her secrets…not that I'd ever needed close proximity before…not that I would find anything worth listening to…**

**Bella Swan walked into the flow of the heated air that blew toward me from the vent.**

**Her scent hit me like a wrecking ball, like a battering ram. There was no image violent enough to encapsulate the force of what happened to me in that moment."**

_No._

Every Cullen thought the same thing at the same time, and under a normal instance Edward would have laughed at this, but he was now frozen. Everybody else had frozen as well – this wasn't good. In fact, it was very, very bad. Alice started reading as fast as she could.

**"In that instant, I was nothing close to the human I'd once been; no trace of the shreds of humanity I'd managed to cloak myself in remained.**

**I was a predator. She was my prey. There was nothing else in the whole world but that truth.**

**There was no room full of witnesses–they were already collateral damage in my head. The mystery of her thoughts was forgotten. Her thoughts meant nothing, for she would not go on thinking them much longer.**

**I was a vampire, and she had the sweetest blood I'd smelled in eighty years."**

Emmett swallowed, remembering the two times that happened to him.

**"I hadn't imagined such a scent could exist. If I'd known it did, I would have gone searching for it long ago. I would have combed the planet for her. I could imagine the taste...**

**Thirst burned through my throat like fire. My mouth was baked and desiccated. The fresh flow of venom did nothing to dispel that sensation. My stomach twisted with the hunger that was an echo of the thirst. My muscles coiled to spring."**

The Cullens all gasped.

"Oh no!" Esme wailed, moving over to her son, and wrapping her arms around him comfortingly.

"Keep reading, Alice," Jasper urged. _The sooner we get this over with, the better._

**"Not a full second had passed. She was still taking the same step that had put her downwind from me.**

**As her foot touched the ground, her eyes slid toward me, a movement she clearly meant to be stealthy. Her glance met mine, and I saw myself reflected in the wide mirror of her eyes.**

**The shock of the face I saw there saved her life for a few thorny moments.**

**She didn't make it easier. When she processed the expression on my face, blood flooded her cheeks again, turning her skin the most delicious colour I'd ever seen. The scent was a thick haze in my brain. I could barely think through it. My thoughts raged, resisting control, incoherent."**

Edward cringed, trying to ignore the way his mouth was watering.

"It will be okay," Esme soothed him.

_I really, really doubt it, _Edward thought.

**"She walked more quickly now, as if she understood the need to escape. Her haste made her clumsy–she tripped and stumbled forward, almost falling into the girl seated in front of me. Vulnerable, weak. Even more than usual for a human.**

**I tried to focus on the face I'd seen in her eyes, a face I recognized with revulsion. The face of the monster in me–the face I'd beaten back with decades of effort and uncompromising discipline. How easily it sprang to the surface now!**

**The scent swirled around me again, scattering my thoughts and nearly propelling me out of my seat.**

**No."**

"Oh, thank God," Carlisle clearly seemed to think that the worst was over.

"You have too much faith in me," Edward muttered, glaring at the ground.

"You don't think you're better?" Alice asked timidly.

"I seriously doubt it," Edward replied curtly.

**"My hand gripped under the edge of the table as I tried to hold myself in my chair. The wood was not up to the task. My hand crushed through the strut and came away with a palmful of splintered pulp, leaving the shape of my fingers carved into the remaining wood.**

**Destroy evidence. That was a fundamental rule. I quickly pulverized the edges of the shape with my fingertips, leaving nothing but a ragged hole and a pile of shavings on the floor, which I scattered with my foot.**

**Destroy evidence. Collateral damage...**

**I knew what had to happen now. The girl would have to come sit beside me, and I would have to kill her."**

"I'm sorry, Carlisle," Edward's voice burned. "Maybe it is a good thing that SM sent this to us. Now we can leave before I ever have to meet this human."

"For once, I completely agree with you," Rosalie nodded. "We should be out of here long before this girl comes to Forks, Carlisle."

"Hang on!" Alice exclaimed. "We're only halfway through the first chapter! We haven't even gotten to the part that made me force you all to read this together with me!" She looked at Esme as she said this, and Esme's eyebrows pulled together.

_She couldn't mean…_

Edward looked between them, not sure what they were trying to secretly communicate.

"Just keep reading, then," Emmett said quietly.

**"The innocent bystanders in this classroom, eighteen other children and one man, could not be allowed to leave this room, having seen what they would soon see.**

**I flinched at the thought of what I must do. Even at my very worst, I had never committed this kind of atrocity. I had never killed innocents, not in over eight decades. And now I planned to slaughter twenty of them at once.**

**The face of the monster in the mirror mocked me.**

**Even as part of me shuddered away from the monster, another part was planning it.**

**If I killed the girl first, I would have only fifteen or twenty seconds with her before the humans in the room would react. Maybe a little longer, if at first they did not realise what I was doing. She would not have time to scream or feel pain; I would not kill her cruelly. That much I could give this stranger with her horribly desirable blood.**

**But then I would have to stop them from escaping. I wouldn't have to worry about the windows, too high up and small to provide an escape for anyone. Just the door–block that and they were trapped.**

**It would be slower and more difficult, trying to take them all down when they were panicked and scrambling, moving in chaos. Not impossible, but there would be much more noise. Time for lots of screaming. Someone would hear...and I'd be forced to kill even more innocents in this black hour.**

**And her blood would cool, while I murdered the others.**

**The scent punished me, closing my throat with dry aching...**

**So the witnesses first then.**

**I mapped it out in my head. I was in the middle of the room, the furthest row in the back. I would take my right side first. I could snap four or five necks per second, I estimated. It would not be noisy. The right side would be the lucky side; they would not see me coming."**

"Four or five necks per second, huh?" Emmett tried to joke, but failed miserably.

**"Moving around the front and back up the left side, it would take me, at most, five seconds to end every life in this room.**

**Long enough for Bella Swan to see, briefly, what was coming for her. Long enough for her to feel fear. Long enough, maybe, if shock didn't freeze her in place, for her to work up a scream. One soft scream that would not bring anyone running.**

**I took a deep breath, and the scent was a fire that raced through my dry veins, burning out from my chest to consume every better impulse that I was capable of.**

**She was just turning now. In a few seconds, she would sit down inches away from me.**

**The monster in my head smiled in anticipation.**

**Someone slammed a folder shut on my left. I didn't look up to see which of the doomed humans it was. But the motion sent a wave of ordinary, unscented air wafting over my face."**

"YES!" All of the Cullens cheered this unspoken hero.

**"For one short second, I was able to think clearly. In that precious second, I saw two faces in my head, side by side.**

**One was mine, or rather had been: the red-eyed monster that had killed so many people that I'd stopped counting their numbers. Rationalised, justified murders. A killer of killers, a killer of other, less powerful monsters. It was a god complex; I acknowledged that–deciding who deserved a death sentence. It was a compromise with myself. I had fed on human blood, but only by the loosest definition. My victims were, in their various dark pastimes, barely more human than I was.**

**The other face was Carlisle's."**

"Well, _naturally,_" Emmett joked again.

_Why my face? _Carlisle wondered.

**"There was no resemblance between the two faces. They were bright day and blackest night.**

**There was no reason for there to be a resemblance. Carlisle was not my father in the basic biological sense. We shared no common features. The similarity in our colouring was a product of what we were; every vampire had the same ice pale skin. The similarity in the colour of our eyes was another matter–a reflection of mutual choice.**

**And yet, though there was no basis for a resemblance, I'd imagined that my face had begun to reflect his, to an extent, in the last seventy-odd years that I had embraced his choice and followed in his steps. My features had not changed, but it seemed to be like some of his wisdom had marked my expression, that a little of his compassion could be traced in the shape of my mouth, and hints of his patience were evident on my brow."**

Carlisle smiled at this.

"Patience!" Emmett scoffed. "You don't know the meaning of the word, Eddiekins."

**"All those tiny improvements were lost in the face of the monster. In a few moments, there would be nothing left in me that would reflect the years I'd spent with my creator, my mentor, my father in all the ways that counted. My eyes would glow red as a devil's; all likeness would be lost forever.**

**In my head, Carlisle's kind eyes did not judge me. I knew that he would forgive me for this horrible act that I would do. Because he loved me. Because he thought I was better than I was. And he would still love me, even as I now proved him wrong."**

"Of course I would," Carlisle assured him. "It's not your fault she has blood like that."

Edward tried to smile at him in thanks, but he was too worried about what might happen to.

**"Bella Swan sat down in the chair next to me, her movements stiff and awkward-with fear?-and the scent of her blood bloomed an inexorable cloud around me.**

**I would prove my father wrong about me. The misery of this fact hurt almost as much as the fire in my throat.**

**I leaned away from her in revulsion-revolted by the monster aching to take her."**

Emmett laughed. _That's what she said._

Edward groaned.

**"Why did she have to come here? Why did she have to exist? Why did she have to ruin the little peace I had in this non-life of mine? Why had this aggravating human ever been born? She would ruin me."**

"It sounds like Edward's Edward again. He's not just thinking about ways he could kill her anymore," Esme smiled at him proudly.

**"I turned my face away from her, as a sudden fierce, unreasoning hatred washed through me.**

**Who _was _this creature? Why me, why now? Why did I have to lose everything just because she happened to choose this unlikely town to appear in?**

**Why had she come here!**

**I didn't want to be the monster! I didn't want to kill this room full of harmless children! I didn't want to lose everything I'd gained in a lifetime of sacrifice and denial!**

**I wouldn't. She couldn't make me."**

"Always so stubborn," Alice laughed.

**"The scent was the problem, the hideously appealing scent of her blood. If there was only some way to resist...if only another gust of fresh air could clear my head.**

**Bella Swan shook out her long, thick, mahogany hair in my direction.**

**Was she insane?"**

"I bet she's just doing that so that she doesn't have to see your face," Jasper said. "I wish we could know what she's thinking…she must think you're insane."

"I'm going to have to deal with that, aren't I?" Edward muttered. "Wondering what she's thinking all the time."

"That is, if we don't end up leaving," Rosalie interjected.

"Which we won't, because I won't let us," Alice winked at Edward.

"Are you going to tell us why yet?" Edward wondered.

"Nope. Hopefully we do find out in the near future, though," Alice replied.

**"It was as if she were encouraging the monster! Taunting him.**

**There was no friendly breeze to blow the smell away from me now. All would soon be lost.**

**No, there was no helpful breeze. But I didn't _have _to breathe."**

"Seriously? It took you this long to remember you don't need to breathe?" Jasper raised his eyebrows.

"While he wants to kill her, she will have amazing smelling blood. He probably just loves the smell too much to have remembered before now," Carlisle mused. "But that's just an assumption."

"Yeah, he could just be stupid," Rosalie sighed. "I don't like this. It's too risky. If this book doesn't explain to us why Alice seems so pleased, then we're definitely leaving."

"Don't worry Rose – I know we will, I just don't know what chapter it will happen in," Alice said smugly.

**"I stopped the flow of air through my lungs; the relief was instantaneous, but incomplete. I still had the memory of the scent in my head, the taste of it on the back of my tongue. I wouldn't be able to resist even that for long. But perhaps I could resist for an hour. One hour. Just enough time to get out of this room full of victims, victims that maybe didn't have to _be _victims. If I could resist for one short hour.**

**It was an uncomfortable feeling, not breathing. My body did not need oxygen, but it went against my instincts. I relied on scent more than my other senses in times of stress. It led the way in the hunt, it was the first warning in case of danger. I did not often come across something as dangerous as I was, but self-preservation was just as strong in my kind as it was in the average human.**

**Uncomfortable, but manageable. More bearable than smelling _her _and not sinking my teeth through that fine, thin, see-through skin to the hot, wet, pulsing–"**

Emmett wagged his eyebrows at Edward. _That's what she said!_

**"An hour! Just one hour. I must not think of the scent, the taste."**

Emmett laughed loudly.

**"The silent girl kept her hair between us, leaning forward so that it spilled across her folder. I couldn't see her face, to try to read the emotions in her clear, deep eyes. Was this why she'd let her tresses fan out between us? To hide those eyes from me? Out of fear? Shyness?"**

"I knew it," Jasper seemed satisfied.

**"To keep her secrets from me?**

**My former irritation at being stymied by her soundless thoughts was weak and pale in comparison to the need-and the hate-that possessed me now. For I hated this frail woman-child beside me,-"**

"'_Woman-child'_?" Emmett laughed, clapping his hands. "What does that even _mean?!"_

**"-hated her with all the fervour with which I clung to my former self, my love of my family, my dreams of being something better than what I was... Hating her, hating how she made me feel-it helped a little. Yes, the irritation I'd felt before was weak, but it, too, helped a little. I clung to any emotion that distracted me from imagining what she would _taste _like..."**

"Okay, does nobody else see the innuendos in this? Because I am seriously dying over here!" Emmett laughed louder. He hadn't stopped laughing for the past few minutes.

"God, Emmett, not everybody has as perverted a mind as you!" Alice shook her head, but laughed with him.

**"Hate and irritation. Impatience."**

"Naturally," Jasper smirked.

**"Would the hour never pass?**

**And when the hour ended... Then she would walk out of this room."**

"_Really?_" Emmett said, gobsmacked. "That's what people do when a class ends? I literally had no idea. My mind is blown right now."

"Shut _up,_" Edward groaned for the millionth time.

**"And I would do what?**

**I could introduce myself. _Hello, my name is Edward Cullen. May I walk you to your next class?_**

**She would say yes. It would be the polite thing to do. Even already fearing me, as I suspected she did, she would follow convention and walk beside me. It should be easy enough to lead her in the wrong direction. A spur of the forest reached out like a finger to touch the back corner of the parking lot. I could tell her I'd forgotten a book in my car...**

**Would anyone notice that I was the last person she'd been seen with? It was raining, as usual; two dark raincoats heading the wrong direction wouldn't pique too much interest, or give me away.**

**Except that I was not the only student who was aware of her today- though no one was as blisteringly aware as I was."**

Edward cringed as this was read. "If we don't leave, I have no idea how I am going to be able to deal with this girl's smell."

**"Mike Newton, in particular, was conscious of every shift in her weight as she fidgeted in her chair- she was uncomfortable so close to me, just as anyone would be, just as I'd expected before her scent had destroyed all charitable concern. Mike Newton would notice if she left the classroom with me.**

**If I could last an hour, could I last two?**

**I flinched at the pain of the burning.**

**She would go home to an empty house. Police Chief Swan worked a full day. I knew his house, as I knew every house in this tiny town. His home was nestled right up against thick woods, with no close neighbours. Even if she had time to scream, which she would not, there would be no one to hear."**

All of the Cullens flinched.

"Don't worry, nothing will happen," Alice said, although for the first time, she sounded unsure.

**"That would be the responsible way to deal with this. I'd gone seven decades without human blood. If I held my breath, I could last two hours. And when I had her alone, there would be no chance of anyone else getting hurt. _And no reason to rush through the experience_, the monster in my head agreed."**

"Disgusting," Edward said, his self-hatred coming out in his tone of voice.

"Where is Alice?" Jasper suddenly wondered. "Wouldn't she have seen a million visions of Edward wanting to kill the girl by now?"

Alice sighed. "I think I'm probably too focused on you, Jazz. I'm sorry, Edward. I would have come and gotten you out of there if I wasn't."

**"It was sophistry to think that by saving the nineteen humans in this room with effort and patience, I would be less a monster when I killed this innocent girl.**

**Though I hated her, I knew my hatred was unjust. I knew that what I really hated was myself. And I would hate us both so much more when she was dead.**

**I made it through the hour in this way–imagining the best ways to kill her. I tried to avoid imagining the actual _act._That might be too much for me; I might lose this battle and end up killing everyone in sight. So I planned strategy, and nothing more. It carried me through the hour.**

**Once, toward the very end, she peeked up at me through the fluid wall of her hair. I could feel the unjustified hatred burning out of me as I met her gaze–see the reflection of it in her frightened eyes."**

"Poor girl," Esme fretted.

**"Blood painted her cheek before she could hide in her hair again, and I was nearly undone.**

**But the bell rang."**

"Saved by the bell!" Alice cheered, then remembered Edward might end up killing her anyway, and stopped.

**"Saved by the bell–how cliché. We were both saved. She, saved from death. I, saved for just a short time from being the nightmarish creature I feared and loathed.**

**I couldn't walk as slowly as I should as I darted from the room. If anyone had been looking at me, they might have suspected that there was something not right about the way I moved. No one was paying attention to me. All human thoughts still swirled around the girl who was condemned to die in little more than an hour's time.**

**I hid in my car.**

**I didn't like to think of myself having to hide. How cowardly that sounded. But it was unquestionably the case now.**

**I didn't have enough discipline left to be around humans now. Focusing so much of my efforts on not killing _one _of them left me no resources to resist the others. What a waste that would be. If I were to give in to the monster, I might as well make it worth the defeat.**

**I played a CD of music that usually calmed me, but it did little for me now. No, what helped most now was the cool, wet, clean air that drifted with the light rain through my open windows. Though I could remember the scent of Bella Swan's blood with perfect clarity, inhaling the clean air was like washing out the inside of my body from its infection."**

Edward shook his head. "I _really _don't know how I'm going to be able to deal with this…"

**"I was sane again. I could think again. And I could fight again. I could fight against what I didn't want to be.**

**I didn't have to go to her home. I didn't have to kill her. Obviously, I was a rational, thinking creature, and I had a choice. There was always a choice."**

"Yes!" This time everybody cheered.

"I knew you wouldn't do anything," Alice grinned at him.

"No you didn't," Edward replied, but he too looked relieved.

"Okay, no I didn't, but I had a feeling you probably wouldn't."

Edward rolled his eyes, smiling a little.

**"It hadn't felt that way in the classroom...but I was away from her now. Perhaps, if I avoided her very, very carefully, there was no need for my life to change. I had things ordered the way I liked them now. Why should I let some aggravating and delicious nobody ruin that?**

**I didn't _have _to disappoint my father. I didn't have to cause my mother stress, worry...pain. Yes, it would hurt my adopted mother, too. And Esme was so gentle, so tender and soft. Causing someone like Esme pain was truly inexcusable."**

Esme smiled at Edward. _Thank you._

**"How ironic that I'd wanted to protect this human girl from the paltry, toothless threat of Jessica Stanley's snide thoughts. I was the last person who would ever stand as a protector for Isabella Swan. She would never need protection from anything more than she needed it from me.**

**Where was Alice, I suddenly wondered?"**

"Ah, here we are," Jasper said. "Time to see if you think you were right."

**"Hadn't she seen me killing the Swan girl in a multitude of ways? Why hadn't she come to help–to stop me or help me clean up the evidence, whichever? Was she so absorbed with watching for trouble with Jasper that she'd missed this much more horrific possibility? Was I stronger than I thought? Would I really not have done anything to the girl?**

**No. I knew that wasn't true. Alice must be concentrating on Jasper very hard. I searched in the direction I knew she would be, in the small building used for English classes. It did not take me long to locate her familiar 'voice.' And I was right. Her every thought was turned to Jasper, watching his small choices with minute scrutiny."**

"Ugh," Alice sighed. "I'm sorry, Edward. And you too, Jazz."

"It's fine," Edward and Jasper replied.

**"I wished I could ask her advice, but at the same time, I was glad she didn't know what I was capable of. That she was unaware of the massacre I had considered in the last hour.**

**I felt a new burn through my body–the burn of shame. I didn't want any of them to know."**

"Are you kidding? I'd just be amazed that you'd lasted this long at all!" Jasper exclaimed, and the rest of the younger Cullens nodded their agreement.

**"If I could avoid Bella Swan, if I could manage not to kill her–even as I thought that, the monster writhed and gnashed his teeth in frustration–then no one would have to know. If I could keep away from her scent...**

**There was no reason why I shouldn't try, at least. Make a good choice. Try to be what Carlisle thought I was."**

Carlisle frowned. _You think too badly of yourself, Edward._

**"The last hour of school was almost over. I decided to put my new plan into action at once. Better than sitting here in the parking lot where she might pass me and ruin my attempt. Again, I felt the unjust hatred for the girl. I hated that she had this unconscious power over me."**

Alice smiled a secret smile as she read this.

**"That she could make me be something I reviled.**

**I walked swiftly–a little too swiftly, but there were no witnesses–across the tiny campus to the office. There was no reason for Bella Swan to cross paths with me. She would be avoided like the plague she was."**

"Ouch," Emmett laughed. "She's hardly the plague – she doesn't kill people."

"You know what I mean," Edward rolled his eyes.

**"The office was empty except for the secretary, the one I wanted to see.**

**She didn't notice my silent entrance.**

**"Mrs. Cope?"**

**The woman with the unnaturally red hair looked up and her eyes widened. It always caught them off guard, the little markers they didn't understand, no matter how many times they'd seen one of us before.**

**"Oh," she gasped, a little flustered. She smoothed her shirt. _Silly_, she thought to herself. _He's almost young enough to be my son. Too young to think of that way..."_**

"_What!?" _Emmett said, then burst into laughter. "She likes you as _well_? That's disgusting!"

"And super, super disturbing!" Alice shuddered.

**"Hello, Edward. What can I do for you?" Her eyelashes fluttered behind her thick glasses.**

**Uncomfortable."**

"I completely agree," Edward mumbled.

**"But I knew how to be charming when I wanted to be. It was easy, since I was able to know instantly how any tone or gesture was taken.**

**I leaned forward, meeting her gaze as if I were already staring deeply into her depthless, small brown eyes. Her thoughts were already in a flutter. This should be simple.**

**"I was wondering if you could help me with my schedule," I said in the soft voice I reserved for not scaring humans.**

**I heard the tempo of her heart increase.**

**"Of course, Edward. How can I help?" _Too young, too young, _she chanted to herself. Wrong, of course. I was older than her grandfather. But according to my driver's license, she was right.**

**"I was wondering if I could move from my biology class to a senior level science? Physics, perhaps?"**

**"Is there a problem with Mr. Banner, Edward?"**

**"Not at all, it's just that I've already studied this material..."**

**"In that acceleration school you all went to in Alaska, right?" Her thin lips pursed as she considered this. _They should all be in college. I've heard the teachers complain. Perfect four point ohs, never a hesitation with a response, never a wrong answer on a test–like they've found some way to cheat in every subject."_**

"Well, once you've taken the same tests five hundred gazillion times, you would be like us too," Rosalie sighed.

**"_Mr. Varner would rather believe that anyone was cheating than think a student was smarter than him... I'll bet their mother tutors them... _"Actually, Edward, physics is pretty much full right now. Mr. Banner hates to have more than twenty-five students in a class––"**

**"I wouldn't be any trouble."**

**_Of course not. Not a perfect Cullen. _"I know that, Edward. But there just aren't enough seats as it is..."**

**"Could I drop the class, then? I could use the period for independent study."**

**"Drop biology?" Her mouth fell open. _That's crazy. How hard is it to sit through a subject you already know? There _must _be a problem with Mr. Banner. I wonder if I should talk to Bob about it? _"You won't have enough credits to graduate."**

**"I'll catch up next year."**

**"Maybe you should talk to your parents about that."**

**The door opened behind me, but whoever it was did not think of me, so I ignored the arrival-"**

"Uh oh," Alice said quietly.

"What?" Emmett asked curiously.

"It's most likely the girl," Rosalie explained patiently.

_Why do we keep thinking of her as 'the girl'?_ Esme wondered.

"Bella, girl, you have the worst timing ever," Emmett shook his head.

**"-and concentrated on Mrs. Cope. I leaned slightly closer, and held my eyes a little wider. This would work better if they were gold instead of black. The blackness frightened people, as it should.**

**"Please, Mrs. Cope?" I made my voice as smooth and compelling as it could be- and it could be considerably compelling."**

"So modest," Emmett laughed.

**"Isn't there some other section I could switch to? I'm sure there has to be an open slot somewhere? Sixth hour biology can't be the only option..."**

**I smiled at her, careful not to flash my teeth so widely that it would scare her, letting the expression soften my face.**

**Her heart drummed faster. _Too young, _she reminded herself frantically. "Well, maybe I could talk to Bob–I mean Mr. Banner. I could see if–"**

**A second was all it took to change everything: the atmosphere in the room, my mission here, the reason I leaned toward the red-haired woman... What had been for one purpose was now for another."**

"Oh God," Esme buried her head against Carlisle's shoulder.

**"A second was all it took for Samantha Wells to open the door and place a signed tardy slip in the basket by the door, and hurry out again, in a rush to be away from school. A second was all it took for the sudden gust of wind through the open door to crash into me."**

"Yep, it's Bella," Emmett looked worried, not joking for once.

**"A second was all it took for me to realise why that first person through the door had not interrupted me with her thoughts."**

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," Esme was saying repeatedly. Carlisle was stroking her arm anxiously, also worried.

**"I turned, though I did not need to make sure. I turned slowly, fighting to control the muscles that rebelled against me.**

**Bella Swan stood with her back pressed to the wall beside the door, a piece of paper clutched in her hands. Her eyes were even wider than usual as she took in my ferocious, inhuman glare."**

"Poor girl," Esme said. "Poor Bella."

"She definitely isn't having a good first day," Emmett agreed.

**"The smell of her blood saturated every particle of air in the tiny, hot room. My throat burst into flames.**

**The monster glared back at me from the mirror of her eyes, a mask of evil.**

**My hand hesitated in the air above the counter. I would not have to look back in order to reach across it and slam Mrs. Cope's head into her desk with enough force to kill her. Two lives, rather than twenty. A trade."**

"This isn't good," Rosalie said, upset, her eyebrows furrowing.

**"The monster waited anxiously, hungrily, for me to do it.**

**But there was always a choice–there _had _to be."**

"Thank heavens," Esme exhaled.

**"I cut off the motion of my lungs, and fixed Carlisle's face in front of my eyes. I turned back to face Mrs. Cope, and heard her internal surprise at the change in my expression. She shrank away from me, but her fear did not form into coherent words.**

**Using all the control I'd mastered in my decades of self-denial, I made my voice even and smooth. There was just enough air left in my lungs to speak once more, rushing through the words.**

**"Never mind, then. I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help."**

**I spun and launched myself from the room, trying not to feel the warm-blooded heat of the girl's body as I passed within inches of it.**

**I didn't stop until I was in my car, moving too fast the entire way there. Most of the humans had cleared out already, so there weren't a lot of witnesses. I heard a sophomore, D.J. Garrett, notice, and then disregard...**

**_Where did Cullen come from–it was like he just came out of thin air... There I go, with the imagination again. Mum always says..._**

**When I slid into my Volvo, the others were already there."**

"Good," Alice said.

**"I tried to control my breathing, but I was gasping at the fresh air like I'd been suffocated.**

**"Edward?" Alice asked, alarm in her voice.**

**I just shook my head at her.**

**"What the hell happened to you?" Emmett demanded, distracted, for the moment, from the fact that Jasper was not in the mood for his rematch.**

**Instead of answering, I threw the car into reverse. I had to get out of this lot before Bella Swan could follow me here, too. My own personal demon, haunting me... I swung the car around and accelerated. I hit forty before I was on the road. On the road, I hit seventy before I made the corner.**

**Without looking, I knew that Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper had all turned to stare at Alice. She shrugged. She couldn't see what had passed, only what was coming.**

**She looked ahead for me now. We both processed what she saw in her head, and we were both surprised.**

**"You're leaving?" she whispered."**

"Am I?" Edward muttered.

"The others stared at me now.

**"Am I?" I hissed through my teeth.**

**She saw it then, as my resolve wavered and another choice spun my future in a darker direction.**

**"Oh."**

**Bella Swan, dead. My eyes, glowing crimson with fresh blood. The search that would follow. The careful time we would wait before it was safe for us to pull out and start again...**

**"Oh," she said again. The picture grew more specific. I saw the inside of Chief Swan's house for the first time, saw Bella in a small kitchen with the yellow cupboards, her back to me as I stalked her from the shadows...let the scent pull me toward her..."**

Edward cringed again.

**"Stop!" I groaned, not able to bear more.**

**"Sorry," she whispered, eyes wide.**

**The monster rejoiced.**

**And the vision in her head shifted again. An empty highway at night, the trees beside it coated in snow, flashing by at almost two hundred miles per hour.**

**"I'll miss you," she said. "No matter how short a time you're gone."**

**Emmett and Rosalie exchanged an apprehensive glance.**

**We were almost to the turn off onto the long drive that led to our home.**

**"Drop us here," Alice instructed. "You should tell Carlisle yourself."**

**I nodded, and the car squealed to a sudden stop.**

**Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper got out in silence; they would make Alice explain when I was gone. Alice touched my shoulder.**

**"You will do the right thing," she murmured. Not a vision this time–an order."**

"And Alice's orders always get obeyed whether we like it or not," Emmett said, thinking about earlier. "Looks like you're leaving, Edward."

**"She's Charlie Swan's only family. It would kill him, too."**

**"Yes," I said, agreeing only with the last part.**

**She slid out to join the others, her eyebrows pulling together in anxiety. They melted into woods, out of sight before I could turn the car around.**

**I accelerated back toward town, and I knew the visions in Alice's head would be flashing from dark to light like a strobe light. As I sped back to Forks doing ninety, I wasn't sure where I was going. To say goodbye to my father? Or to embrace the monster inside me? The road flew away beneath my tires."**

"You didn't say goodbye to _me_," Esme scolded him.

"I doubt I'm thinking much about anything other than what I just said," Edward said. "But I am sorry."

"That's the end of the first chapter," Alice spoke up. "Who wants to read next?"

"So we _are _reading this whole thing?" Rosalie asked, groaning.

"Yes," Alice replied. "Like I said, I know why SM wants us to read this. And Rose, you want to know if we'll have to leave or not right? We can't leave this first meeting with Bella to chance."

"Very well," Rosalie said, leaning back against the couch. "But I'm not going to force myself to be nice anymore."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Alice smiled at her. "So, who's reading next?"

"I will!" Emmett grabbed the book out of Alice's hands. "This is pretty interesting, I have to admit."

He turned the page and began reading.

**A/N: Well, there's the first chapter! I hope you liked it – I took a lot from my original story, so if you think you can work out which one is mine I wouldn't be surprised, haha :) Kudos to you if you do, though. Like I said at the beginning of this, I only wrote about five chapters.**

**Obviously the post-it note that Alice read at the start of this chapter was SM telling her, or whoever happened to read it, that you would meet the girl Edward would later fall in love with. That's why Alice is excited and is forcing everyone to read it, and that's why she's keeping Edward out of her thoughts.**

**Leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll be back as soon as I can! :)**


	2. Chapter 2: Open Book

**A/N: Hey everyone! I'm power-housing through these early chapters because like I've already said, I've written them before and I want to get to those that I haven't yet :) Hope you enjoy!**

**madnessdownunder2, I'm not sure I understand what you mean – this is about the Cullens reading Midnight Sun, so what do you mean can I take it beyond Stephenie's work? Also, thanks for the rest of your kind reviews :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Midnight Sun, nor any of the characters in it.**

Chapter Two: Open Book

Emmett began reading. **"Open Book."**

"If this chapter is about you reading a book I am so done with everything," Emmett said, in a teasing tone.

**"I leaned back against the soft snow bank, letting the dry powder reshape itself around my weight. My skin had cooled to match the air around me, and the tiny pieces of ice felt like velvet under my skin."**

"Looks like there's been a bit of a time jump," Jasper noted. "At least you left, though."

"I agree. But we don't know for sure that he didn't kill her. He could have killed the girl, and we all had to leave as a result," Rosalie muttered.

"I doubt that that's the case," Esme disagreed. "Edward seems a lot calmer already."

**"The sky above me was clear, brilliant with stars, glowing blue in some places, yellow in others. The stars created majestic, swirling shapes against the black universe–an awesome sight. Exquisitely beautiful. Or rather, it should have been exquisite. Would have been, if I'd been able to really see it.**

**It wasn't getting any better. Six days had passed, six days I'd hidden here in the empty Denali wilderness, but I was no closer to freedom than I had been since the first moment that I'd caught her scent."**

"See," Esme said smugly. "I knew he hadn't killed her."

"So you went up to Alaska, huh?" Emmett pondered this. "That doesn't have anything to do with Tanya or the others, right?"

"Of course not," Edward scoffed. It's just a far enough away place from the girl."

**"When I stared up at the jewelled sky, it was as if there were an obstruction between my eyes and their beauty. The obstruction was a face, just an unremarkable human face, but I couldn't quite seem to banish it from my mind."**

"Bella's face," Alice smirked. Edward looked at her curiously, hoping she'd slip up in her mind-blocking, but he found that he couldn't get anything from her. He sighed, annoyed.

**"I heard the approaching thoughts before I heard the footsteps that accompanied them. The sound of movement was only a faint whisper against the powder.**

**I was not surprised that Tanya had followed me here."**

"Because she loves you, right?" Emmett smirked.

"She doesn't love me," Edward sighed. "She just…likes me more than as a friend."

**"I knew she'd been mulling over this coming conversation for the last few days, putting it off until she was sure of exactly what she wanted to say.**

**She sprang into sight about sixty yards away, leaping onto the tip of an outcropping of black rock and balancing there on the balls of her bare feet.**

**Tanya's skin was silver in the starlight, and her long blonde curls shone pale, almost pink with their strawberry tint. Her amber eyes glinted as she spied me, half-buried in the snow, and her full lips stretched slowly into a smile.**

**Exquisite. ****_If _****I'd really been able to see her. I sighed.**

**She crouched down on the point of the stone, her fingertips touching the rock, her body coiled.**

**_Cannonball, _****she thought."**

"Who thinks something like that?" Jasper wondered aloud. "Do any of you think, _'jump!'_? Randomest thought _ever._"

**"She launched herself into the air; her shape became a dark, twisting shadow as she spun gracefully between me and the stars. She curled herself into a ball just as she struck the piled snow bank beside me.**

**A blizzard of snow flew up around me. The stars went black and I was buried deep in the feathery ice crystals.**

**I sighed again, but didn't move to unearth myself. The blackness under the snow neither hurt nor improved the view. I still saw the same face."**

"I wonder why you keep seeing Bella's face," Esme mused, tapping her chin with a finger thoughtfully.

"I know," Alice replied, in her ridiculously smug tone of voice.

**"Edward?"**

**Then snow was flying again as Tanya swiftly disinterred me. She brushed the powder from my unmoving face, not quite meeting my eyes."**

"She does like you," Rosalie observed. "Weird."

**"Sorry," she murmured, "It was a joke."**

"**I know. It was funny."**

"So convincing," Jasper chuckled.

**"Her mouth twisted down.**

"**Irina and Kate said I should leave you alone. They think I'm annoying you."**

"**Not at all," I assured her. "On the contrary, I'm the one who's being rude–abominably rude. I'm very sorry."**

"At least you're being polite about it," Esme beamed at him approvingly.

**_"You're going home, aren't you? _****She thought.**

"**I haven't...entirely...decided that yet."**

**_But you're not staying here. _****Her thought was wistful now, sad.**

"**No. It doesn't seem to be...helping."**

**She grimaced. "That's my fault, isn't it?"**

"**Of course not," I lied smoothly.**

**_Don't be a gentleman._**

**I smiled.**

**_I make you uncomfortable, _****she accused.**

"**No."**

"Tanya's always creeped me out a bit, though. I'm not sure I like the idea of her liking you like that," Rosalie pursed her lips. Edward looked at her, surprised at her protectiveness.

**"She raised one eyebrow, her expression so disbelieving I had to laugh. One short laugh, followed by another sigh.**

"**All right," I admitted. "A little bit."**

**She sighed, too, and put her chin in her hands. Her thoughts were chagrined.**

**You're a thousand times lovelier than the stars, Tanya. Of course, you're already well aware of that. Don't let my stubbornness undermine your confidence." I chuckled at the unlikeliness of ****_that._**

"**I'm not used to rejection," she grumbled, her lower lip pushing out into an attractive pout."**

"Maybe you're not as immune as you thought," Emmett wagged his eyebrows at him in a suggestive tone.

"Of course I can think she's attractive," Edward defended himself. "But that doesn't mean I'm attracted to her."

**"Certainly not," I agreed, trying with little success to block out her thoughts as she fleetingly sifted through memories of her thousands of successful conquests. Mostly Tanya preferred human men–they were much more populous for one thing, with the added advantage of being soft and warm. And always eager, definitely.**

"**Succubus," I teased, hoping to interrupt the images flickering in her head.**

**She grinned, flashing her teeth. "The original."**

Rosalie raised her eyebrows. "Seriously? She thinks she's so attractive? I'd like to see her say that in front of _me."_

"I'd love to see that," Emmett grinned at her. "You'd kick her ass, babe."

Rosalie smiled back at him and kissed him quickly. "You know I would."

**"Unlike Carlisle, Tanya and her sisters had discovered their consciences slowly. In the end, it was their fondness for human men that turned the sisters against the slaughter. Now the men they loved...lived.**

"**When you showed up here," Tanya said slowly. "I thought that..."**

**I'd known what she'd thought. And I should have guessed that she would have felt that way. But I hadn't been at my best for analytical thinking in that moment.**

"**You thought that I'd changed my mind."**

"**Yes." She scowled.**

"**I feel horrible for toying with your expectations, Tanya. I didn't mean to–I wasn't thinking. It's just that I left in...quite a hurry."**

"**I don't suppose you'd tell me why...?"**

**I sat up and wrapped my arms around my legs, curling defensively. "I don't want to talk about it."**

"You are so stubborn," Alice sighed.

**"Tanya, Irina and Kate were very good at this life they'd committed to. Better, in some ways, than even Carlisle. Despite the insanely close proximity they allowed themselves with those who should be–and once were–their prey, they did not make mistakes." **

"They do have amazing self-control," Carlisle agreed. "But they don't work in a hospital, like I do. It would be a different thing entirely if they and I were in the hospital together, surrounded by blood."

The rest of the Cullens nodded their agreement. Carlisle definitely had more control than pretty much any other vampire they'd ever come across.

**"I was too ashamed to admit my weakness to Tanya.**

"**Woman troubles?" she guessed, ignoring my reluctance.**

**I laughed a bleak laugh. "Not the way you mean it."**

**She was quiet then. I listened to her thoughts as she ran through different guesses, tried to decipher the meaning of my words.**

"**You're not even close," I told her.**

"**One hint?" she asked.**

"**Please let it go, Tanya."**

Rosalie rolled her eyes. _Maybe I was too quick to like her in the past…she seems incredibly annoying, if I'm being honest._

**"She was quiet then, still speculating. I ignored her, trying in vain to appreciate the stars.**

**She gave up after a silent moment, and her thoughts pursued a new direction.**

**_Where will you go, Edward, if you leave? Back to Carlisle?_**

"**I don't think so," I whispered.**

**Where would I go? I could not think of one place on the entire planet that held any interest for me. There was nothing I wanted to see or do. Because, no matter where I went, I would not be going ****_to _****anywhere–I would only be running away ****_from._**

**I hated that. When had I become such a coward?**

**Tanya threw her slender arm around my shoulders. I stiffened, but did not flinch out from under her touch. She meant it as nothing more than friendly comfort. Mostly."**

Rosalie's eyes narrowed.

"Why are you being like this?" Edward wondered, speaking quietly.

Rosalie blinked. "I'm not sure. I just…she isn't the right person for you, Edward. I don't like how she's throwing herself at you."

**"I think that you ****_will _****go back," she said, her voice taking on just a hint of her long lost Russian accent. "No matter what it is...or who it is...that is haunting you. You'll face it head on. You're the type."**

**Her thoughts were as certain as her words. I tried to embrace the vision of myself that she carried in her head. The one who faced things head on. It was pleasant to think of myself that way again. I'd never doubted my courage, my ability to face difficulty, before that horrible hour in a high school biology class such a short time ago.**

**I kissed her cheek, pulling back swiftly when she twisted her face toward mine, her lips already puckered. She smiled ruefully at my quickness."**

"Ugh," Rosalie shuddered. Alice, Jasper and Emmett found themselves agreeing with her now.

**"Thank you, Tanya. I needed to hear that."**

**Her thoughts turned petulant. "You're welcome, I guess. I wish you would be more reasonable about things, Edward."**

"**I'm sorry, Tanya. You know you're too good for me. I just...haven't found what I'm looking for yet."**

Alice grinned, laughing internally.

**"Well, if you leave before I see you again...goodbye, Edward."**

**"Goodbye, Tanya." As I said the words, I could see it. I could see myself leaving. Being strong enough to go back to the one place where I wanted to be. "Thanks again."**

**She was on her feet in one nimble move, and then she was running away, ghosting across the snow so quickly that her feet had no time to sink into the snow; she left no prints behind her. She didn't look back. My rejection bothered her more than she'd let on before, even in her thoughts. She wouldn't want to see me again before I left.**

**My mouth twisted with chagrin. I didn't like hurting Tanya, though her feelings were not deep, hardly pure, and, in any case, not something I could return. It still made me feel less than a gentleman."**

"At least she's not in love with you," Alice said. "I think that's okay then. And at least you're not…stringing her along or anything."

"You were being a perfect gentleman," Esme smiled at him.

**"I put my chin on my knees and stared up at the stars again, though I was suddenly anxious to be on my way. I knew that Alice would see me coming home, that she would tell the others. This would make them happy–Carlisle and Esme especially. But I gazed at the stars for one more moment, trying to see past the face in my head. Between me and the brilliant lights in the sky, a pair of bewildered chocolate-brown eyes stared back at me, seeming to ask what this decision would mean for ****_her_****. Of course, I couldn't be sure if that was really the information her curious eyes sought. Even in my imagination, I couldn't hear her thoughts.**

**Bella Swan's eyes continued to question, and an unobstructed view of the stars continued to elude me. With a heavy sigh, I gave up, and got to my feet. If I ran, I would be back to Carlisle's car in less than an hour...**

**In a hurry to see my family–and wanting very much to be the Edward that faced things head on–I raced across the starlit snowfield, leaving no footprints."**

"Yay! You're really coming home!" Alice clapped happily.

"That's pretty amazing that you can do that," Jasper muttered. "I wouldn't ever be able to come home."

"It _is _very remarkable," Carlisle agreed with him. "But who knows why Edward is able to do that?"

**"It's going to be okay," Alice breathed. Her eyes were unfocused, and Jasper had one hand lightly under her elbow, guiding her forward as we walked into the rundown cafeteria in a close group. Rosalie and Emmett led the way, Emmett looking ridiculously like a bodyguard in the middle of hostile territory." **

"Oh yeah!" Emmett grinned wickedly. "I should like, work for the president or something. I'd be the absolute best bodyguard ever."

"Until I come along and distract you," Rosalie smirked at him. He couldn't argue with her on that.

**"Rose looked wary, too, but much more irritated than protective.**

"**Of course it is," I grumbled. Their behaviour was ludicrous. If I wasn't positive that I could handle this moment, I would have stayed home.**

**The sudden shift from our normal, even playful morning–it had snowed in the night, and Emmett and Jasper were not above taking advantage of my distraction to bombard me with slushballs; when they got bored with my lack of response, they'd turned on each other–to this overdone vigilance would have been comical if it weren't so irritating."**

"Snow!" Emmett exclaimed. "Finally, a new source of entertainment."

"It will hardly snow for long, Em," Jasper laughed.

"Yeah but, it will give me an excuse to fling snowballs at the humans." _I can hurt them but _not _hurt them, you know?_

**"She's not here yet, but the way she's going to come in...she won't be downwind if we sit in our regular spot."**

"**_Of course_**** we'll sit in our regular spot. Stop it, Alice. You're getting on my nerves. I'll be absolutely fine."**

"Now you know how _I _feel," Jasper looked at Edward, amused. Edward chuckled.

**"She blinked once as Jasper helped her into her seat, and her eyes finally focused on my face.**

"**Hmm," she said, sounding surprised, "I think you're right."**

"**_Of course _****I am," I muttered.**

**I hated being the focus of their concern. I felt a sudden sympathy for Jasper, remembering all the times we'd hovered protectively over him. He met my glance briefly, and grinned.**

**_Annoying, isn't it?_**

**I grimaced at him."**

"It's weird when we have pretty much the same conversations, don't you think?" Jasper commented.

"Well, it's not like we can know what's going to come up. Even Alice can't know that," Emmett stated.

"I know the biggest spoiler this book will contain," Alice winked at him mysteriously. "And you'll literally never ever guess what it could be."

"Are there going to be dinosaurs?"

Alice frowned, her eyebrows pulling together. "What? No. Of course not, don't be silly."

"They did exist once," Emmett grumbled under his breath. "And we're _vampires._ It's not like we're ordinary."

"But we're not dinosaurs."

"I could probably imitate a convincing T-Rex," Emmett thought out loud. "I'd need to be taller, obviously…"

"Okay! Can we get back to the story, now?" Rosalie directed the Cullens' looks back to the book.

**"Was it just last week that this long, drab room had seemed so killingly dull to me? That it had seemed almost like sleep, like a coma, to be here?**

**Today my nerves were stretched tight-piano wires, tensed to sing at the lightest pressure. My senses were hyper-alert; I scanned every sound, every sight, every movement of the air that touched my skin, every thought. Especially the thoughts. There was only one sense that I kept locked down, refused to use. Smell, of course. I didn't breathe."**

"Duh," Rosalie said.

**"I was expecting to hear more about the Cullens in the thoughts that I sifted through. All day I'd been waiting, searching for whichever new acquaintance Bella Swan might have confided in, trying to see the direction the new gossip would take. But there was nothing. No one noticed the five vampires in the cafeteria, just the same as before the new girl had come. Several of the humans here were still thinking about that girl, still thinking the same thoughts from last week. Instead of finding this unutterably boring, I was now fascinated.**

**Had she said nothing to anyone about me?"**

"Wow," The Cullens breathed.

"That's…kind of awesome that she didn't do that," Rosalie said approvingly.

"It's not, though. She must be too frightened to imagine what might happen if she said anything about me," Edward sighed.

"Yeah, but, most humans would have like, immediately told at least one person."

**"There was no way that she had not noticed my black, murderous glare. I had seen her react to it. Surely, I'd scared her silly. I had been convinced that she would have mentioned it to someone, maybe even exaggerated the story to make it a bit better. Given me a few menacing lines."**

"See?" Rose said smugly. "Even you know I'm right."

**"And then, she'd also heard me trying to get out of our shared biology class. She must have wondered, after seeing my expression, whether she were the cause. A normal girl would have asked around, compared her experience to others, looked for common ground that would explain my behaviour so she didn't feel singled out. Humans were constantly desperate to feel normal, to fit in. To blend in with everyone else around them, like a featureless flock of sheep. The need was particularly strong during the insecure adolescent years. This girl would be no exception to that rule."**

"Something's telling me that Bella might be the exception to _every _rule," Esme smiled.

_You're not wrong, _Alice winked at her. Edward frowned, still very confused.

**"But no one at all took any notice of us sitting here, at our normal table. Bella must be exceptionally shy, if she'd confided in no one. Perhaps she had spoken to her father, maybe that was the strongest relationship...though that seemed unlikely, given the fact that she had spent so little time with him throughout her life. She would be closer to her mother. Still, I would have to pass by Chief Swan sometime soon and listen to what he was thinking.**

"**Anything new?" Jasper asked.**

"**Nothing. She...must not have said anything."**

**All of them raised an eyebrow at this news."**

"Maybe she didn't think you were as scary as you thought you were?" Emmett wondered.

"**Maybe you're not as scary as you think you are," Emmett said, chuckling. "I bet I could have frightened her better than ****_that._****"**

"And I'm not wrong," Emmett laughed.

**"I rolled my eyes at him.**

"**Wonder why...?" He puzzled again over my revelation about the girl's unique silence.**

"**We've been over that. I don't ****_know._****"**

"**She's coming in," Alice murmured then. I felt my body go rigid. "Try to look human."**

"**Human, you say?" Emmett asked.**

**He held up his right fist, twisting his fingers to reveal the snowball he'd saved in his palm. Of course it had not melted there. He'd squeezed it into a lumpy block of ice. He had his eyes on Jasper, but I saw the direction of his thoughts. So did Alice, of course. When he abruptly hurled the ice chunk at her, she flicked it away with a casual flutter of her fingers."**

"So unfair," Emmett muttered.

**"The ice ricocheted across the length of the cafeteria, too fast to be visible to human eyes, and shattered with a sharp crack against the brick wall. The brick cracked, too."**

"That's not good!" Esme exclaimed. "You can't just go about using your strength like that! What if somebody saw you?"

**"The heads in that corner of the room all turned to stare at the pile of broken ice on the floor, and then swivelled to find the culprit. They didn't look further than a few tables away. No one looked at us."**

"Amazing," Carlisle said. "But then again, we'll never know for sure if she told anyone. We have no way of knowing."

"Yeah, unless Edward somehow befriends her and she talks about that day to him," Emmett agreed, sounding like that was the most unlikely thing in the world. Alice grinned.

"**Very human, Emmett," Rosalie said scathingly. "Why don't you punch through the wall while you're at it?"**

"**It would look more impressive if you did it, baby."**

"I'm not wrong, again," Emmett winked at Rose.

**"I tried to pay attention to them, keeping a grin fixed on my face like I was part of their banter. I did not allow myself to look toward the line where I knew she was standing. But that was all that I was listening to."**

"How cute," Rosalie smirked.

**"I could hear Jessica's impatience with the new girl, who seemed to be distracted, too, standing motionless in the moving line. I saw, in Jessica's thoughts, that Bella Swan's cheeks were once more coloured bright pink with blood.**

**I pulled in short, shallow breaths, ready to quit breathing if any hint of her scent touched the air near me.**

**Mike Newton was with the two girls. I heard both his voices, mental and verbal, when he asked Jessica what was wrong with the Swan girl. I didn't like the way his thoughts wrapped around her, the flicker of already established fantasies that clouded his mind while he watched her start and look up from her reverie like she'd forgotten he was there.**

"**Nothing," I heard Bella say in that quiet, clear voice. It seemed to ring like a bell over the babble in the cafeteria, but I knew that was just because I was listening for it so intently.**

"**I'll just get a soda today," she continued as she moved to catch up with the line."**

"Poor girl," Esme sighed. "She _is _terrified."

"I'm sure you'll try and fix that today, though," Carlisle said to Edward.

"Yeah, but I have no idea how I'm going to do that," Edward murmured.

**"I couldn't help flickering one glance in her direction. She was staring at the floor, the blood slowly fading from her face. I looked away quickly, to Emmett, who laughed at the now pained-looking smile on my face.**

**_You look sick, bro._**

**I rearranged my features so the smile would seem casual and effortless.**

**Jessica was wondering aloud about the girl's lack of appetite. "Aren't you hungry?"**

"**Actually, I feel a little sick." Her voice was lower, but still very clear."**

Edward sighed.

"Well, she's allowed to feel that way," Alice commented. "You were thinking of killing her, Edward."

"I know, but that doesn't make me feel any less bad," Edward rolled his eyes.

**"Why did it bother me, the protective concern that suddenly emanated from Mike Newton's thoughts? What did it matter that there was a possessive edge to them? It wasn't my business if Mike Newton felt unnecessarily anxious for her. Perhaps this was the way everyone responded to her." **

"It is curious that you're worried about her," Carlisle observed. "I wonder why that is?"

"Yes, I wonder why indeed," Alice agreed, grinning.

**"Hadn't I wanted, instinctively, to protect her, too? Before I'd wanted to kill her, that is...**

**But ****_was _****the girl ill?**

**It was hard to judge–she looked so delicate with her translucent skin... Then I realised that I was worrying, too, just like that dim-witted boy, and I forced myself not to think about her health."**

"Very strange," Jasper said quietly. _Why are you being like this, Edward?_

"How am I supposed to know?" Edward, too, seemed curious as to why he was acting like this.

**"Regardless, I didn't like monitoring her through Mike's thoughts. I switched to Jessica's, watching carefully as the three of them chose which table to sit at. Fortunately, they sat with Jessica's usual companions, at one of the first tables in the room. Not downwind, just as Alice had promised.**

**Alice elbowed me. ****_She's going to look soon, act human._**

**I clenched my teeth behind my grin.**

"**Ease up, Edward," Emmett said. "Honestly. So you kill one human. That's hardly the end of the world."**

"**You would know," I murmured."**

"Thanks," Emmett smirked at him.

**"Emmett laughed. "You've got to learn to get over things. Like I do. Eternity is a long time to wallow in guilt."**

**Just then, Alice tossed a smaller handful of ice that she'd been hiding into Emmett's unsuspecting face."**

"_So _unfair," Emmett sighed.

**"He blinked, surprised, and then grinned in anticipation.**

"**You asked for it," he said as he leaned across the table and shook his ice-encrusted hair in her direction. The snow, melting in the warm room, flew out from his hair in a thick shower of half-liquid, half-ice.**

"**Ew!" Rose complained, as she and Alice recoiled from the deluge."**

"I know why you did that," Esme smiled at her. "You're trying to make Bella change her mind about you all, aren't you?"

"Of course," Alice smiled back.

**"Alice laughed, and we all joined in. I could see in Alice's head how she'd orchestrated this perfect moment, and I knew that the girl–I should stop thinking of her that way, as if she were the only girl in the world–"**

"The only girl in the world, huh?" Emmett scratched his chin. "You _are _behaving very differently, Edward."

"At least this means that you'll hopefully stop thinking of her as 'the girl'," Esme said to him. "She _does _have a name." _A very pretty name, at that._

**"–that ****_Bella _****would be watching us laugh and play, looking as happy and human and unrealistically ideal as a Norman Rockwell painting.**

**Alice kept laughing, and held her tray up as a shield. The girl–Bella must still be staring at us.**

**_...staring at the Cullens again, _****someone thought, catching my attention.**

**I looked automatically toward the unintentional call, realising as my eyes found their destination that I recognised the voice – I'd been listening to it much today.**

**But my eyes slid right past Jessica, and focused on the girl's penetrating gaze.**

**She looked down quickly, hiding behind her thick hair again.**

**What was she thinking?" **

"We could start a drinking game for every time Edward thinks this," Emmett muttered.

"What, and bring a bunch of humans in here to play it for us? We can't drink, Em," Jasper shook his head.

"Which really, really sucks," Emmett sighed.

**"The frustration seemed to be getting more acute as time went on, rather than dulling. I tried–uncertain in what I was doing for I'd never tried this before–to probe with my mind at the silence around her. My extra hearing had always come to me naturally, without asking; I'd never had to work at it. But I concentrated now, trying to break through whatever shield surrounded her.**

**Nothing but silence.**

**_What _****is ****_it about her?_**** Jessica thought, echoing my own frustration."**

"We're with you, Jessica," Rosalie agreed quietly. _Why is she so…different?_

"**Edward Cullen is staring at you," she whispered in the Swan girl's ear, adding a giggle. There was no hint of jealous irritation in her tone. Jessica seemed to be skilled at feigning friendship."**

"Disgusting," Esme said, and Rosalie nodded her agreement.

**"I listened, too engrossed, to the girl's response.**

"**He doesn't look angry, does he?" she whispered back.**

**So she ****_had _****noticed my wild reaction last week. Of course she had."**

"No, of course she didn't," Emmett joked.

**"The question confused Jessica. I saw my own face in her thoughts as she checked my expression, but I did not meet her glance. I was still concentrating on the girl, trying to hear ****_something. _****My intent focus didn't seem to be helping at all.**

"**No," Jess told her, and I knew that she wished she could say yes–how it rankled inside her, my staring–though there was no trace of that in her voice. "Should he be?"**

"**I don't think he likes me," the girl whispered back, laying her head down on her arm as if she were suddenly tired. I tried to understand the motion, but I could only make guesses. Maybe she ****_was _****tired."**

"Humans are weird," Emmett agreed.

"Actually, they're the normal ones," Jasper smirked at him. "We're weird."

"I disagree, I think we're normal."

"Whatever," Jasper sighed, shaking his head. "Trying to get you to think rationally is very difficult, Em."

"**The Cullens don't like anybody," Jess reassured her. **"**Well, they don't notice anybody enough to like them." ****_They never used to. _****Her thought was a grumble of complaint. "But he's still staring at you."**

"**Stop looking at him," the girl said anxiously, lifting her head from her arm to make sure Jessica obeyed the order.**

**Jessica giggled, but did as she was asked.**

**The girl did not look away from her table for the rest of the hour. I thought- though, of course, I could not be sure- that this was deliberate. It seemed like she wanted to look at me. Her body would shift slightly in my direction, her chin would begin to turn, and then she would catch herself, take a deep breath, and stare fixedly at whoever was speaking."**

"So you're just watching her for the entire lunchtime?" Rosalie raised an eyebrow. "That's a little strange."

"I agree, but this is…future me. I can't tell myself to stop being like this," Edward said.

**"I ignored the other thoughts around the girl for the most part, as they were not, momentarily, about her. Mike Newton was planning a snow fight in the parking lot after school, not seeming to realise that the snow had already shifted to rain. The flutter of soft flakes against the roof had become the more common patter of raindrops. Could he really not hear the change? It seemed loud to me.**

**When the lunch period ended, I stayed in my seat. The humans filed out, and I caught myself trying to distinguish the sound of her footsteps from the sound of the rest, as if there was something important or unusual about them. How stupid."**

"Very stupid," Edward nodded.

**"My family made no move to leave, either. They waited to see what I would do.**

**Would I go to class, sit beside the girl where I could smell the absurdly potent scent of her blood and feel the warmth of her pulse in the air on my skin? Was I strong enough for that? Or had I had enough for one day?"**

"Amazing," Carlisle said. "That you can even entertain the thought of doing so."

"**I...****_think _****it's okay," Alice said, hesitant. "Your mind is set. I ****_think _****you'll make it through the hour."**

**But Alice knew well how quickly a mind could change.**

"**Why push it, Edward?" Jasper asked. Though he didn't want to feel smug that I was the one who was weak now, I could hear that he did, just a little. "Go home. Take it slow."**

"**What's the big deal?" Emmett disagreed. "Either he will or he won't kill her. Might as well get it over with, either way."**

"**I don't want to move yet," Rosalie complained. "I don't want to start over. We're almost out of high school, Emmett. ****_Finally._****"**

"You're behaving differently too, Rose," Emmett looked at her. "Don't you want us to leave now?"

"Yeah, I do, but normally we don't have access to Edward's thoughts. I probably doubt that the problem is as serious as it is," Rosalie replied.

**"I was evenly torn on the decision. I wanted, wanted badly, to face this head on rather than running away again. But I didn't want to push myself too far, either. It had been a mistake last week for Jasper to go so long without hunting; was this just as pointless a mistake?**

**I didn't want to uproot my family. None of them would thank me for that.**

**But I wanted to go to my biology class. I realised that I wanted to see her face again."**

Esme and Alice beamed at this. Edward's eyes narrowed, trying to force himself into their thoughts, but to no avail.

**"That's what decided it for me. That curiosity. I was angry with myself for feeling it. Hadn't I promised myself that I wouldn't let the silence of the girl's mind make me unduly interested in her? And yet, here I was, most unduly interested.**

**I wanted to know what she was thinking. Her mind was closed, but her eyes were very open. Perhaps I could read them instead.**

"**No, Rose, I think it really will be okay," Alice said. "It's...firming up. I'm ninety-three percent sure that nothing bad will happen if he goes to class." She looked at me inquisitively, wondering what had changed in my thoughts that made her vision of the future more secure.**

**Would curiosity be enough to keep Bella Swan alive?"**

"I think so," Carlisle answered him. "If Bella thinks differently than most humans, as I'm starting to believe, then Edward won't be able to resist getting to know her."

**"Emmett was right, though–why not get it over with, either way? I would face the temptation head on.**

"**Go to class," I ordered, pushing away from the table."**

"Amazing," Edward frowned. "I hope I'm able to do that."

"You will be. This _is_ you, after all," Alice smiled widely at him. _And if SM was telling the truth, then you'll _definitely _be able to._

Edward had no idea what she meant.

**"I turned and strode away from them without looking back. I could hear Alice's worry, Jasper's censure, Emmett's approval, and Rosalie's irritation trailing after me.**

**I took one last deep breath at the door of the classroom, and then held it in my lungs as I walked into the small, warm space.**

**I was not late. Mr. Banner was still setting up for today's lab. The girl sat at my–at ****_our _****table, her face down again, staring at the folder she was doodling on. I examined the sketch as I approached; interested in even this trivial creation of her mind, but it was meaningless. Just a random scribbling of loops within loops. Perhaps she was not concentrating on the pattern, but thinking of something else?**

**I pulled the chair back with unnecessary roughness, letting it scrape across the linoleum; humans always felt more comfortable when noise announced someone's approach."**

"Good," Esme approved.

**"I knew she heard the sound; she did not look up, but her hand missed a loop in the design she was drawing, making it unbalanced."**

Esme sighed. "I feel so bad for her."

"We all do," Edward sighed with her.

**"Why didn't she look up? Probably she was frightened. I must be sure to leave her with a different impression this time. Make her think she'd been imagining things before.**

"**Hello," I said in the quiet voice I used when I wanted to make humans more comfortable, forming a polite smile with my lips that would not show any teeth.**

**She looked up then, her wide brown eyes startled–almost bewildered–and full of silent questions. It was the same expression that had been obstructing my vision for the last week."**

"So frustrating," Edward murmured. "I hope I'm able to at least find out something about her."

"Maybe that's why this chapter is called _Open Book_? It's not about an actual book, but Bella instead?" Alice wondered aloud.

"That makes sense, actually." Edward seemed excited by this.

**"As I stared into those oddly deep brown eyes, I realised that the hate–the hate I'd imagined this girl somehow deserved for simply existing–had evaporated. Not breathing now, not tasting her scent, it was hard to believe that anyone so vulnerable could ever justify hatred."**

"I think I like Bella," Emmett said simply.

"She does sound interesting," Jasper agreed. "Strange, with her…different mind and all, but interesting nonetheless."

**"Her cheeks began to flush, and she said nothing.**

**I kept my eyes on hers, focusing only on their questioning depths, and tried to ignore the appetizing colour of her skin. I had enough breath to speak for a while longer without inhaling.**

"**My name is Edward Cullen," I said, though I knew she knew that. It was the polite way to begin. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan."**

**She seemed confused–there was that little pucker between her eyes again. It took her half a second longer than it should have for her to respond.**

"**How do you know my name?" she demanded, and her voice shook just a little."**

"Poor Bella," Alice sighed.

**"I must have truly terrified her. This made me feel guilty; she was just so defenceless. I laughed gently–it was a sound that I knew made humans more at ease. Again, I was careful about my teeth.**

"**Oh, I think everyone knows your name." Surely she must have realised that she'd become the centre of attention in this monotonous place. "The whole town's been waiting for you to arrive."**

**She frowned as if this information was unpleasant. I supposed, being shy as she seemed to be, attention would seem like a bad thing to her. Most humans felt the opposite. Though they didn't want to stand out from the herd, at the same time they craved a spotlight for their individual uniformity.**

"**No," she said. "I meant, why did you call me Bella?"**

"What an odd question," Edward frowned, confused.

"Maybe she thinks you're being too forward," Emmett joked. He cracked a grin.

"**Do you prefer Isabella?" I asked, perplexed by the fact that I couldn't see where this question was leading. I didn't understand. Surely, she'd made her preference clear many times that first day. Were all humans this incomprehensible without the mental context as a guide?"**

"Like I've said before, we have to deal with this all the time. Maybe Bella will be good for you. You'll finally have to learn to communicate as we _normal _people do," Jasper laughed.

"**No, I like Bella," she answered, leaning her head slightly to one side. Her expression–if I was reading it correctly–was torn between embarrassment and confusion. "But I think Charlie–I mean my dad–must call me Isabella behind my back. That's what everyone here seems to know me as." Her skin darkened one shade pinker.**

"Oh," Edward said, understanding.

"You slipped up," Rosalie bit her lip. "Maybe Bella won't be good for him, either. We aren't ever going to be able to protect ourselves if she starts thinking we're not normal."

"**Oh," I said lamely, and quickly looked away from her face.**

**I'd just realised what her questions meant: I had slipped up – made an error. If I hadn't been eavesdropping on all the others that first day, then I would have addressed her initially by her full name, just like everyone else. She'd noticed the difference."**

"Fascinating, but irritating," Edward sighed.

"She's rather observant, isn't she?" Carlisle agreed. "I suppose she would be, given the fact you were looking at her murderously last week."

**"I felt a pang of unease. It was very quick of her to pick up on my slip. Quite astute, especially for someone who was supposed to be terrified by my nearness.**

**But I had bigger problems than whatever suspicions about me she might be keeping locked in her head.**

**I was out of air. If I were going to speak to her again, I would have to inhale."**

Edward looked worried.

"Here goes nothing," Emmett said, looking at Edward in concern.

**"It would be hard to avoid speaking. Unfortunately for her, sharing this table made her my lab partner, and we would have to work together today. It would seem odd–and incomprehensibly rude–for me to ignore her while we did the lab. It would make her more suspicious, more afraid...**

**I leaned as far away from her as I could without moving my seat, twisting my head out into the aisle. I braced myself, locking my muscles in place, and then sucked in one quick chest-full of air, breathing through my mouth alone.**

**Ahh!**

**It was genuinely painful. Even without smelling her, I could taste her on my tongue. My throat was suddenly in flames again, the craving every bit as strong as that first moment I'd caught her scent last week."**

Edward groaned.

"You don't sound murderous, though," Jasper said. "A fine attempt."

"Are you _grading _me?" Edward frowned.

"Hardly. I'm just wondering how long this could last."

Without meaning to, Edward growled. The Cullens looked at him in surprise, surprise that Edward also felt. Why had he done _that?_

"You're a strange one, Edward," Emmett stated.

**"I gritted my teeth together and tried to compose myself."**

"It _is _amazing that you're able to do that, though," Jasper said, still wondering why Edward had growled.

**"Get started," Mr. Banner commanded.**

**It felt like it took every single ounce of self-control that I'd achieved in seventy years of hard work to turn back to the girl, who was staring down at the table, and smile.**

"**Ladies first, partner?" I offered.**

**She looked up at my expression and her face went blank, her eyes wide. Was there something off in my expression? Was she frightened again? She didn't speak.**

"**Or, I could start, if you wish," I said quietly.**

"**No," she said, and her face went from white to red again. "I'll go first."**

**I stared at the equipment on the table, the battered microscope, the box of slides, rather than watch the blood swirl under her clear skin. I took another quick breath, through my teeth, and winced as the taste made my throat ache.**

"**Prophase," she said after a quick examination. She started to remove the slide, though she'd barely examined it.**

"**Do you mind if I look?" Instinctively–stupidly, as if I were one of her kind–I reached out to stop her hand from removing the slide. For one second, the heat of her skin burned into mine. It was like an electric pulse–surely much hotter than a mere ninety-eight point six degrees. The heat shot through my hand and up my arm." **

All of the Cullens exchanged a glance at this.

"What?" Edward demanded.

"Nothing, probably. It's just…" Alice began, trailing off.

"That's how it feels when I touch Rose," Emmett picked up.

"Likewise with me," Rosalie frowned.

Jasper and Alice, and Carlisle and Esme also said the same.

"And, well…we're all soulmates," Esme said quietly, her mind spinning.

"Ridiculous," Edward scoffed. "She has amazing blood. I probably just can feel the heat of it."

"If you say so," Alice said, doubting this. She seemed shocked that such a thing had happened to Edward, and thought back to the note SM wrote secretly, hiding this from Edward.

**"She yanked her hand out from under mine."**

"She felt it too," Esme murmured, looking pointedly at Alice. Alice's eyes widened, as she tried to communicate with her quietly. They definitely were on the same page, though.

"**I'm sorry," I muttered through my clenched teeth. Needing somewhere to look, I grasped the microscope and stared briefly into the eyepiece. She was right.**

"**Prophase," I agreed.**

**I was still too unsettled to look at her." **

"Amazing," Esme breathed.

**"Breathing as quietly as I could through my gritted teeth and trying to ignore the fiery thirst, I concentrated on the simple assignment, writing the word on the appropriate line on the lab sheet, and then switching out the first slide for the next.**

**What was she thinking now? What had that felt like to her, when I had touched her hand? My skin must have been ice cold–repulsive. No wonder she was so quiet."**

The Cullens smirked at this, thinking they all had an idea why she was being quiet.

**"I glanced at the slide.**

"**Anaphase," I said to myself as I wrote it on the second line.**

"**May I?" she asked.**

**I looked up at her, surprised to see that she was waiting expectantly, one hand half-stretched toward the microscope. She didn't ****_look _****afraid. Did she really think I'd gotten the answer wrong?**

**I couldn't help but smile at the hopeful look on her face as I slid the microscope toward her.**

**She stared into the eyepiece with an eagerness that quickly faded. The corners of her mouth turned down.**

"**Slide three?" she asked, not looking up from the microscope, but holding out her hand. I dropped the next slide into her hand, not letting my skin come anywhere close to hers this time. Sitting beside her was like sitting next to a heat lamp. I could feel myself warming slightly to the higher temperature."**

"You're enjoying this, aren't you, Edward?" Emmett grinned at him.

"I doubt it. Well…do I? We haven't talked about anything that could make me intrigued yet," Edward replied.

"You're already intrigued. That's why you're sitting there," Rosalie disagreed with him.

**"She did not look at the slide for long. "Interphase," she said nonchalantly–perhaps trying a little too hard to sound that way–and pushed the microscope to me. She did not touch the paper, but waited for me to write the answer. I checked–she was correct again."**

"She sounds smart, too." Carlisle observed. "I think I like Bella now, too."

"I think we _all _do," Esme agreed, smiling at Edward.

"I'm not sure," Edward frowned. "If we don't leave, I'm going to have to deal with her scent. I don't know how I'll be able to do that."

_You'll find a way to manage,_ Alice thought. _I'll help you._

**"We finished this way, speaking one word at a time and never meeting each other's eyes. We were the only ones done–the others in the class were having a harder time with the lab. Mike Newton seemed to be having trouble concentrating–he was trying to watch Bella and me.**

**_Wish he'd stayed wherever he went, _****Mike thought, eyeing me sulfurously. Hmm, interesting. I hadn't realised the boy harboured any ill will towards me. This was a new development, about as recent as the girl's arrival it seemed. Even more interesting, I found–to my surprise–that the feeling was mutual."**

Emmett and Jasper laughed at this.

"You have a rival," Alice laughed with them.

"Bella has certainly changed a lot, and you've only seen her for two days!" Emmett chuckled, very, very amused.

**"I looked down at the girl again, bemused by the wide range of havoc and upheaval that, despite her ordinary, unthreatening appearance, she was wreaking on my life."**

"Bella's just cool like that," Emmett grinned.

**"It wasn't that I couldn't see what Mike was going on about. She was actually rather pretty...in an unusual way. Better than being beautiful, her face was ****_interesting. _****Not quite symmetrical–her narrow chin out of balance with her wide cheekbones; extreme in the colouring–the light and dark contrast of her skin and her hair; and then there were the eyes, brimming over with silent secrets..."**

"Edward thinks Bella's pretty," Alice beamed.

**"Eyes that were suddenly boring into mine.**

**I stared back at her, trying to guess even one of those secrets.**

"**Did you get contacts?" she asked abruptly.**

**What a strange question." **

The Cullens groaned again.

"You're going to slip up, again," Rose glared at him. _You'll need to be more careful in the future, Edward._

**"No." I almost smiled at the idea of improving ****_my _****eyesight.**

"**Oh," she mumbled. "I thought there was something different about your eyes."**

"It's strange that she noticed that, though. You've all been there for two years and nobody else has been able to realise our eyes change," Carlisle mused.

"Bella could be a danger to us," Rosalie hissed, now not amused by her.

"I think I agree with Rosalie," Jasper said, his eyes tightening. "She could find out too much, too quickly, if she's this observant."

Alice simply laughed.

**"I felt suddenly colder again as I realised that I was apparently not the only one attempting to ferret out secrets today.**

**I shrugged, my shoulders stiff, and glared straight ahead to where the teacher was making his rounds.**

**Of course there was something different about my eyes since the last time she'd stared into them. To prepare myself for today's ordeal, today's temptation, I'd spent the entire weekend hunting, satiating my thirst as much as possible, overdoing it really. I'd glutted myself on the blood of animals, not that it made much difference in the face of the outrageous flavour floating on the air around her. When I'd glared at her last, my eyes had been black with thirst. Now, my body swimming with blood, my eyes were a warmer gold. Light amber from my excessive attempt at thirst-quenching.**

**Another slip. If I'd seen what she meant with her question, I could have just told her yes.**

**I'd sat beside humans for two years now at this school, and she was the first to examine me closely enough to note the change in my eye colour. The others, while admiring the beauty of my family, tended to look down quickly when we returned their stares. They shied away, blocking the details of our appearances in an instinctive endeavour to keep themselves from understanding. Ignorance was bliss to the human mind.**

**Why did it have to be this girl who would see too much?"**

"Why indeed," Rosalie murmured.

**"Mr. Banner approached our table. I gratefully inhaled the gush of clean air he brought with him before it could mix with her scent.**

"**So, Edward," he said, looking over our answers, "didn't you think Isabella should get a chance with the microscope?"**

"**Bella," I corrected him reflexively. "Actually, she identified three of the five."**

**Mr. Banner's thoughts were sceptical as he turned to look at the girl. "Have you done this lab before?"**

**I watched, engrossed, as she smiled, looking slightly embarrassed.**

"**Not with onion root."**

"**Whitefish blastula?" Mr. Banner probed.**

"**Yeah."**

**This surprised him. Today's lab was something he'd pulled from a more advanced course. He nodded thoughtfully at the girl. "Were you in an advanced placement program in Phoenix?"**

"**Yes."**

**She was advanced then, intelligent for a human. This did not surprise me."**

"I knew it," Carlisle smiled.

"**Well," Mr. Banner said, pursing his lips. "I guess it's good you two are lab partners." He turned and walked away mumbling, "So the other kids can get a chance to learn something for themselves," under his breath. I doubted the girl could hear that. She began scrawling loops across her folder again.**

**Two slips so far in one half hour. A very poor showing on my part. Though I had no idea at all what the girl thought of me–I knew I needed to put forth a better effort to leave her with a new impression of me. Something to better drown her memories of our ferocious last encounter.**

"**It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" I said, repeating the small talk that I'd heard a dozen students discuss already. A boring, standard topic of conversation. The weather – always safe."**

Alice and Rosalie rolled their eyes.

"Really, Edward? You're asking her about the weather?" Alice shook her head.

**"She stared at me with obvious doubt in her eyes–an abnormal reaction to my very normal words. "Not really," she said, surprising me again."**

"Fascinating," Edward repeated for the hundredth time.

**"I tried to steer the conversation back to trite paths. She was from a much brighter, warmer place–her skin seemed to reflect that somehow, despite its fairness–and the cold must make her uncomfortable. My icy touch certainly had...**

"**You don't like the cold," I guessed.**

"**Or the wet," she agreed."**

"Why did she move to Forks, then?" Esme wondered, curious.

"**Forks must be a difficult place for you to live." ****_Perhaps you should not have come here, _****I wanted to add. ****_Perhaps you should go back to where you belong._**

**I wasn't sure I wanted that, though. I would always remember the scent of her blood–was there any guarantee that I wouldn't eventually follow after her? Besides, if she left, her mind would forever remain a mystery. A constant, nagging puzzle.**

"**You have no idea," she said in a low voice, glowering past me for a moment.**

**Her answers were never what I expected. They made me want to ask more questions.**

"**Why did you come here, then?" I demanded, realising instantly that my tone was too accusatory, not casual enough for conversation. The question sounded rude, prying."**

Esme sighed, but she wanted to know the answer as well, so she let it be.

"**It's...complicated."**

**She blinked her wide eyes, leaving it at that, and I nearly imploded out of curiosity–"**

"Ugh," Edward groaned. "_Bella._ I'm going to die of frustration."

**"–the curiosity burned as hot as the fire in my throat. Actually, I found that it was getting slightly easier to breathe; the agony was becoming more bearable through familiarity."**

Carlisle and Edward both raised his eyebrows at this.

"So you can do this?" Jasper's mouth had fallen open.

"It seems so." Carlisle assumed. "Maybe the longer you stay with her, and talk to her, you'll be able to get used to her scent? But I doubt it will just fade away."

"Me too," Edward sighed. "It's still remarkable that I can do that."

"I agree," Jasper said, a little jealous.

"**I think I can keep up," I insisted. Perhaps common courtesy would keep her answering my questions as long as I was rude enough to ask them.**

**She stared down silently at her hands. This made me impatient;" **

"Of course it did," Emmett shook his head, chuckling.

**"I wanted to put my hand under her chin and tilt her head up so that I could read her eyes. But it would be foolish of me–dangerous–to touch her skin again.**

**She looked up suddenly. It was a relief to be able to see the emotions in her eyes again. She spoke in a rush, hurrying through the words.**

"**My mother got remarried."**

"Poor girl," Esme sighed.

"You say that a lot," Rosalie noted.

"Well, it's true," Esme defended herself. "And having your parents split up would be sad for her, or anyone."

**"Ah, this was human enough, easy to understand. Sadness passed through her clear eyes and brought the pucker back between them.**

**"That doesn't sound so complex," I said. My voice was gentle without my working to make it that way. Her sadness left me feeling oddly helpless, wishing there was something I could do to make her feel better. A strange impulse." **

"Awww, Edward," Alice pushed his shoulder teasingly, as she smiled happily at him.

**"When did that happen?"**

"**Last September." She exhaled heavily–not quite a sigh. I held my breath as her warm breath brushed my face.**

"**And you don't like him," I guessed, fishing for more information.**

"**No, Phil is fine," she said, correcting my assumption. There was a hint of a smile now around the corners of her full lips. "Too young, maybe, but nice enough."**

**This didn't fit with the scenario I'd been constructing in my head.**

"**Why didn't you stay with them?" I asked, my voice a little too curious. It sounded like I was being nosy. Which I was, admittedly.**

"**Phil travels a lot. He plays ball for a living." The smile grew more pronounced; this career choice amused her."**

"There is _nothing _amusing about baseball, Bella." Emmett declared.

**"I smiled, too, without choosing to. I wasn't trying to make her feel at ease. Her smile just made me want to smile in response–to be in on the secret.**

"**Have I heard of him?" I ran through the rosters of professional ball players in my head, wondering which Phil was hers...**

"**Probably not. He doesn't play ****_well._****" Another smile. "Strictly minor league. He moves around a lot."**

**The rosters in my head shifted instantly, and I'd tabulated a list of possibilities in less than a second. At the same time, I was imagining the new scenario.**

"**And your mother sent you here so that she could travel with him," I said.**

**Making assumptions seemed to get more information out of her than questions did. It worked again. Her chin jutted out, and her expression was suddenly stubborn.**

"**No, she did not send me here," she said, and her voice had a new, hard edge to it. My assumption had upset her, though I couldn't quite see how. "I sent myself."**

"I am _so _confused," Edward sighed. "There's just no understanding this girl."

"If you give it time I'm sure you'll figure her out," Esme assured him.

"I shouldn't want to figure her out, Mom."

"But she has too interesting a personality for you to give up on her," Alice grinned. "Don't worry, I wouldn't either – she's the only person in the world who has the best blood for you, as well as having a silent mind."

**"I could not guess at her meaning, or the source behind her pique. I was entirely lost.**

**So I gave up. There was just no making sense of the girl. She wasn't like other humans. Maybe the silence of her thoughts and the perfume of her scent were not the only unusual things about her.**

"**I don't understand," I admitted, hating to concede.**

**She sighed, and stared into my eyes for longer than most normal humans were able to stand."**

"I wonder if she just doesn't have the normal survival instincts that normal human beings do," Carlisle mused, folding his hands. "No human I've ever met can do that."

"**She stayed with me at first, but she missed him," she explained slowly, her tone growing more forlorn with each word. "It made her unhappy...so I decided it was time to spend some quality time with Charlie."**

**The tiny pucker between her eyes deepened.**

"**But now you're unhappy," I murmured. I couldn't seem to stop speaking my hypotheses aloud, hoping to learn from her reactions. This one, however, did not seem as far off the mark.**

"**And?" she said, as if this was not even an aspect to be considered."**

"She's selfless," Esme realised, her eyes shining. _I like Bella. I think I'm going to like her very much indeed._

**"I continued to stare into her eyes, feeling that I'd finally gotten my first real glimpse into her soul. I saw in that one word where she ranked herself among her own priorities. Unlike most humans, her own needs were far down the list."**

"I'm not sure that's a fair statement," Carlisle disagreed. "There are plenty of humans who are selfless, Edward; but they can also be selfish."

**"She was selfless.**

**As I saw this, the mystery of the person hiding inside this quiet mind began to thin a little."**

"Bella's just a good person," Alice concluded. "Fancy that."

**"That doesn't seem fair," I said. I shrugged, trying to seem casual, trying to conceal the intensity of my curiosity.**

**She laughed, but there was no amusement to the sound. "Hasn't anyone ever told you? Life isn't fair."**

Rosalie sighed, and Emmett rubbed her leg soothingly.

**"I wanted to laugh at her words, though I, too, felt no real amusement. I knew a little something about the unfairness of life. **"**I believe I ****_have _****heard that somewhere before."**

**She stared back at me, seeming confused again. Her eyes flickered away, and then came back to mine.**

"**So that's all," she told me."**

"She's confused as to why you keep looking at her," Alice's lips curved up. "You're going to be staring at her for the entire time you're with her if she does have such an open face, Edward." She laughed at this, and Edward knew he would.

**"But I was not ready to let this conversation end. The little V between her eyes, a remnant of her sorrow, bothered me. I wanted to smooth it away with my fingertip. But, of course, I could not touch her. It was unsafe in so many ways.**

"**You put on a good show." I spoke slowly, still considering this next hypothesis. "But I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see."**

**She made a face, her eyes narrowing and her mouth twisting into a lopsided pout, and looked back to the front of the class. She didn't like it when I guessed right. She wasn't the average martyr–she didn't want an audience to her pain.**

"**Am I wrong?"**

**She flinched slightly, but otherwise pretended not to hear me.**

**That made me smile. "I didn't think so."**

"**Why does it matter to you?" she demanded, still staring away.**

"**That's a very good question," I admitted, more to myself than to answer her. Her discernment was better than mine–she saw right to the core of things while I floundered around the edges, sifting blindly through clues. The details of her very human life should ****_not _****matter to me. It was wrong for me to care what she thought. Beyond protecting my family from suspicion, human thoughts were not significant."**

"She fascinates you!" Alice told the book. Edward stared at her as if she were crazy.

"I wouldn't go that far," Edward shook his head. "A silent mind would be interesting to anyone who had my power."

**"I was not used to being the less intuitive than any pairing. I relied on my extra hearing too much–clearly I was not as perceptive as I gave myself credit for."**

"Which is _awesome_," Emmett grinned happily. "Bella's going to teach you so much you didn't know about yourself."

_You're not wrong,_ Alice beamed.

**"The girl sighed and glowered toward the front of the classroom. Something about her frustrated expression was humourous. The whole situation, the whole conversation was humourous. No one had ever been in more danger from me than this little girl – at any moment I might, distracted by my ridiculous absorption in the conversation, inhale through my nose and attack her before I could stop myself–and ****_she _****was irritated because I hadn't answered her question.**

"**Am I annoying you?" I asked, smiling at the absurdity of it all.**

"**Not exactly," she told me. "I'm more annoyed at myself. My face is so easy to read–my mother always calls me her open book."**

"_What?_" Edward exclaimed. "Of all the things she could have said, _that's_ what she says?"

"Well she does have an open expression," Esme smiled.

"It's _hilarious_," Emmett chuckled. "Oh, man. I can't wait till she gets here."

**"She frowned, disgruntled.**

**I stared at her in amazement. The reason she was upset was because she thought I saw through her ****_too easily_****. How bizarre."**

"Like I said, _hilarious_," Emmett threw his head back as he laughed louder. "This girl is amazing."

**"I'd never expended so much effort to understand someone in all my life–or rather existence, as ****_life _****was hardly the right word. I did not truly have a ****_life_****.**

"**On the contrary," I disagreed, feeling strangely...wary, as if there were some hidden danger here that I was failing to see. I was suddenly on edge, the premonition making me anxious. **"**I find you very difficult to read."**

"**You must be a good reader then," she guessed, making her own assumption that was, again, right on target."**

"Dangerous," Jasper's eyes narrowed, and Rosalie nodded with him.

"She's just observant," Edward defended her. "And anyway, all that I have done so far are hardly vampire stereotypes. She's not going to be able to piece them together."

"Maybe," Jasper said, clearly disagreeing with him.

"**Usually," I agreed.**

**I smiled at her widely then, letting my lips pull back to expose the rows of gleaming, razor sharp teeth behind them.**

**It was a stupid thing to do, but I was abruptly, unexpectedly desperate to get some kind of warning through to the girl." **

"Good," Jasper said, approving. "Hopefully she'll realise that it would be a bad idea to get to know you."

"That's not fair, you can't keep her from doing that!" Alice cried out.

"I'm not saying I can, but I _hope_ she does leave Edward alone," Jasper replied calmly. "She could be a danger to us."

"But you don't know what I know, yet! As soon as you do, I know you'll change your mind," Alice crossed her arms, glaring at nothing in particular. _Keeping secrets like this is hard work._

"Then tell me what it is you're hiding," Edward suggested.

"Not a chance," Alice recovered, winking secretly at him. "You'll find out when you find out, Edward."

**"Her body was closer to me than before, having shifted unconsciously in the course of our conversation. All the little markers and signs that were sufficient to scare off the rest of humanity did not seem to be working on her. Why did she not cringe away from me in terror? Surely she had seen enough of my darker side to realise the danger, intuitive as she seemed to be."**

"I really think her survival instincts are all wrong," Carlisle said again. "Hopefully that doesn't come back to bite you later, Edward."

**"I didn't get to see if my warning had the intended effect. Mr. Banner called for the class's attention just then, and she turned away from me at once. She seemed a little relieved for the interruption, so maybe she understood unconsciously.**

**I hoped she did.**

**I recognised the fascination growing inside me, even as I tried to root it out. I could not afford to find Bella Swan interesting." **

"What does it mean that you _'can't afford to'_? I don't see why finding Bella interesting is a bad thing," Esme asked him.

"I could kill her too easily," Edward murmured. "What's the point in getting to know her if I could kill her?"

"Maybe if you got to know her, you wouldn't be able to kill her," Esme speculated. "I guess we'll never know if that will work, though."

_Oh, it will._ Alice thought quietly.

**"Or rather, ****_she _****could not afford that. Already, I was anxious for another chance to talk to her. I wanted to know more about her mother, her life before she came her, her relationship with her father. All the meaningless details that would flesh out her character further. But every second I spent with her was a mistake, a risk she shouldn't have to take.**

**Absentmindedly, she tossed her thick hair just at the moment that I allowed myself another breath. A particularly concentrated wave of her scent hit the back of my throat."**

Edward covered his face with his hands. "See, Esme? It's too dangerous."

Esme only looked at him concernedly.

**"It was like the first day – like the wrecking ball. The pain of the burning dryness made me dizzy. I had to grasp the table to keep myself in my seat. This time I had slightly more control. I didn't break anything, at least. The monster growled inside me, but took no pleasure in my pain. He was too tightly bound. For the moment.**

**I stopped breathing altogether, and leaned as far away from the girl as I could.**

**No, I could not afford to find her fascinating. The more interesting I found her, the more likely it was that I would kill her. I'd already made two minor slips today. Would I make a third, one that was ****_not _****minor?"**

"_Finally,_ you're seeing sense!" Rosalie exhaled. She was happy that Edward hadn't killed Bella, but was annoyed that he was entertaining the idea of getting to know her more.

**"As soon as the bell sounded, I fled from the classroom-probably destroying whatever impression of politeness I'd halfway constructed in the course of the hour.**

**Again, I gasped at the clean, wet air outside like it was a healing attar. I hurried to put as much distance between myself and the girl as was possible.**

**Emmett waited for me outside the door to our Spanish class. He read my wild expression for a moment.**

**_How did it go? _****he wondered warily."**

"I love how I don't seem that worried that Edward might have just killed somebody," Emmett smirked. "I'm amazing."

**"Nobody died," I mumbled.**

**_I guess that's something. When I saw Alice ditching there at the end, I thought..._**

**As we walked into the classroom, I saw his memory from just a few moments ago, seen through the open door of his last class: Alice walking briskly and blank-faced across the grounds toward the science building." **

Edward looked at Alice. "I had no idea it had gotten that close. Or do you think it was something to do with Jasper again?"

"Maybe it was to do with Jasper. You didn't seem in too much trouble, but if I was paying very close attention to your every move, even what just happened might have made me worried for you." She shrugged. "So, it could've been you, or it couldn't have. Again, we'll never know."

**"I felt his remembered urge to get up and join her, and then his decision to stay. If Alice needed his help, she would ask...**

**I closed my eyes in horror and disgust as I slumped into my seat. "I hadn't realised that it was that close. I didn't think I was going to...I didn't see that it was that bad," I whispered.**

**_It wasn't, _****he reassured me. ****_Nobody died, right?_**

"**Right," I said through my teeth. "Not this time."**

**_Maybe it will get easier._**

"**Sure."**

**_Or, maybe you kill her. _****He shrugged. ****_You wouldn't be the first one to mess up. No one would judge you too harshly. Sometimes a person just smells too good. I'm impressed you've lasted this long._****"**

"See, I just make the most sense out of everybody. Either Edward kills Bella or he doesn't. I'll be upset that he would, now that we've read from Edward's thoughts, but even so – it's not his fault. Her blood's just too good." Emmett concluded. "My work here is done."

Edward rolled his eyes.

**"Not helping, Emmett."**

Edward smirked at this.

**"I was revolted by his acceptance of the idea that I would kill the girl, that this was somehow inevitable. Was it her fault that she smelled so good?"**

"No, no it's not," Emmett agreed.

**_"I know when it happened to me..._****, he reminisced, taking me back with him half a century, to a country lane at dusk, where a middle-aged woman was taking her dried sheets down from a line strung between apple trees. The scent of apples hung heavily in the air–the harvest was over and the rejected fruits were scattered on the ground, the bruises in their skin leaking their fragrance out in thick clouds. A fresh-mowed field of hay was a background to that scent, a harmony. He walked up the lane, all but oblivious to the woman, on an errand for Rosalie. The sky was purple overhead, orange over the western trees. He would have continued up the meandering cart path and there would have been no reason to remember the evening, except that a sudden night breeze blew the white sheets out like sails and fanned the woman's scent across Emmett's face.**

"**Ah," I groaned quietly. As if my own remembered thirst was not enough.**

**_I know. I didn't last half a second. I didn't even think about resisting._**

**His memory became far too explicit for me to stand."**

"Explicit, eh?" Emmett grinned, wagging his eyebrows at Edward.

"Emmett," Edward groaned. "Not everything is about sex."

Emmett looked shocked. "I'm offended, Edward! How dare you accuse me of suggesting it was!"

Edward just sighed.

**"I jumped to my feet, my teeth locked hard enough to cut through steel.**

"**Esta bien, Edward?" Senora Goff asked, startled by my sudden movement. I could see my face in her mind, and I knew that I looked far from well.**

"**Me perdona," I muttered, as I darted for the door.**

"**Emmett––por favor, puedas tu ayuda a tu hermano?" she asked, gesturing helplessly toward me as I rushed out of the room.**

"**Sure," I heard him say. And then he was right behind me."**

"At least answer her in Spanish," Jasper joked; looking at Emmett, who grinned.

**"He followed me to the far side of the building, where he caught up to me and put his hand on my shoulder.**

**I shoved his hand away with unnecessary force. It would have shattered the bones in a human hand, and the bones in the arm attached to it.**

"**Sorry, Edward."**

"**I know." I drew in deep gasps of air, trying to clear my head and my lungs.**

"**Is it as bad as that?" he asked, trying not to think of the scent and the flavour of his memory as he asked, and not quite succeeding.**

"**Worse, Emmett, worse."**

Emmett's eyes widened. _Worse than _that?

**He was quiet for a moment.**

**_Maybe..."_**

_"_Were you seriously about to suggest that he just go and kill her?" Rosalie's eyebrows rose. "Really, Emmett?"

Emmett shrugged, making no attempts to defend himself. "Probably."

**"No, it would not be better if I got it over with. Go back to class, Emmett. I want to be alone."**

**He turned without another word or thought and walked quickly away. He would tell the Spanish teacher that I was sick, or ditching, or a dangerously out of control vampire."**

All of the Cullens laughed at that.

"I'm sure that's what you'd do," Carlisle sighed, shaking his head, but he was still amused.

**"Did his excuse really matter? Maybe I wasn't coming back. Maybe I had to leave."**

_Again?_ Esme thought, incredulous. _I don't think you have to leave _again_, Edward._

**"I went to my car again, to wait for school to end. To hide. Again.**

**I should have spent the time making decisions or trying to bolster my resolve, but, like an addict, I found myself searching through the babble of thoughts emanating from the school buildings. The familiar voices stood out, but I wasn't interested in listening to Alice's visions or Rosalie's complaints right now." **

"You're stalking her," Emmett smirked.

"Not stalking," Edward disagreed. "I'm…actually I don't know _what _I'm doing."

**"I found Jessica easily, but the girl was not with her, so I continued searching. Mike Newton's thoughts caught my attention, and I located her at last, in gym with him. He was unhappy, because I'd spoken to her today in biology. He was running over her response when he brought the subject up...**

**_I've never seen him actually talk to anyone for more than a word here or there. Of course he would decide to find Bella interesting. I don't like the way he looks at her. But she didn't seem too excited about him. What did she say? 'Wonder what was with him last Monday.' Something like that. Didn't sound like she cared. It couldn't have been much of a conversation..._**

**He talked himself out of his pessimism in that way, cheered by the idea that Bella had not been interested in her exchange with me. This annoyed me quite a bit more than was acceptable, so I stopped listening to him."**

Everybody grinned at this, amused still that Edward had found himself a human rival over the girl that he could very easily murder.

**"I put a CD of violent music into the stereo, and then turned it up until it drowned out other voices. I had to concentrate on the music very hard to keep myself from drifting back to Mike Newton's thoughts, to spy on the unsuspecting girl...**

**I cheated a few times, as the hour drew to a close. Not spying, I tried to convince myself. I was just preparing. I wanted to know exactly when she would leave the gym, when she would be in the parking lot. I didn't want her to take me by surprise.**

**As the students started to file out of the gym doors, I got out of my car, not sure why I did it." **

"You're so cute," Alice clapped. "You want Bella to see you!"

Edward rolled his eyes. "I'm _sure _that's what I meant when I got out of my car, Alice." He sounded deeply sarcastic.

**"The rain was light–I ignored it as it slowly saturated my hair.**

**Did I want her to see me here? Did I hope she would come speak to me? What was I doing?"**

"All very good questions," Edward agreed.

**"I didn't move, though I tried to convince myself to get back in the car, knowing my behaviour was reprehensible. I kept my arms folded across my chest and breathed very shallowly as I watched her walk slowly towards me, her mouth turning down at the corners. She didn't look at me. A few times she glanced up at the clouds with a grimace, as if they offended her."**

"Why would clouds _offend _her?" Emmett wondered, as if this was the weirdest thing he had ever heard before.

"She's from Phoenix, Em," Jasper explained. "It rains like, once or twice a year or something there. No clouds."

"Imagine what that would be like," Emmett tried to picture it.

"It would be very sunny," Jasper pictured it also. "We'd have to become nocturnal again."

"Which would suck," Rosalie added.

**"I was disappointed when she reached her car before she had to pass me. Would she have spoken to me? Would I have spoken to her?"**

"So many questions," Alice smirked at him.

**"She got into a faded red Chevy truck, a rusted behemoth that was older than her father." **

"Ew," Rosalie shuddered, thinking about it. Edward also was amazed she could drive such a thing.

**"I watched her start the truck–the old engine roared louder than any other vehicle in the lot–and then hold her hands out toward the heating vents. The cold was uncomfortable to her–she didn't like it." **

"I think we've already established that fact," Jasper stated.

"The book doesn't know that," Alice laughed.

**"She combed her fingers through her thick hair, pulling locks through the steam of hot air like she was trying to dry them. I imagined what the cab of that truck would smell like, and then quickly drove out the thought.**

**She glanced around as she prepared to back out, and finally looked in my direction. She stared back at me for only half a second, and all I could read in her eyes was surprise before she tore her eyes away and jerked the truck into reverse." **

"You are a hazard to her," Esme laughed.

**"And then squealed to a stop again, the back end of the truck missing a collision with Erin Teague's compact by mere inches.**

**She stared into her rear-view mirror, her mouth hanging open with chagrin. When the other car had pulled past her, she checked all her blind spots twice and then inched out the parking space so cautiously it made me grin. It was like she thought was ****_dangerous _****in her decrepit truck."**

"If her truck sounds as…large as it currently sounds, then I doubt _she _thinks she's dangerous. Her truck, on the other hand…" Rosalie trailed off.

**"The thought of Bella Swan being dangerous to anyone, no matter what she was driving, had me laughing while the girl drove past me, staring straight ahead."**

"That's the end of the chapter," Emmett declared, and held up the book. "Who wants to read next?"

"I will," Rosalie said, and took it from his proffered hand.

"How much longer will it be until we find out what you know?" Edward asked Alice.

Alice shrugged. "I have no idea. It could be next chapter, it could be in two chapters, who knows? SM only told me why we had to read it. I have no idea of the context or anything."

Edward frowned, his eyebrows pulling together in his frustration. "I wish you'd slip up so I can know."

Alice kissed his cheek affectionately. "Don't worry, Edward. You'll know soon, and you will have the shock of your life when you do indeed find out," she giggled. "I can't _wait _to see that happen."

**A/N: Well, there's another chapter for you all! Please leave a review if you enjoyed it, and I'll be back as soon as I can :) (Which will be soon, if I keep writing at the rate I am currently writing at, haha).**

**Byeeee! :)**


	3. Chapter 3: Phenomenon

**A/N: Hello, ello, ello! I would have had this chapter up earlier, as I've only had about three pages to finish for the past two days, but yesterday I was busy ****_(totally not watching all 100 episodes of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, of course not you're crazy)_**** and today I've been too sad to write. I don't want to go into details but basically we had to have my cat Xena put down. R.I.P. Xena, I love you, fluffy cat, and I will miss you forever xoxoxo**

**vampdreams, YES! I was wondering if anyone could figure it out ;D I suppose it couldn't have been too hard…I don't think there are many Midnight Sun read-fics out there haha :) **

**PrettyPerfect, don't worry yourself! I will finish. I don't know how I will, but I know I'll finish the actual read-through. Where I go from there, I don't yet know. I'm not decided on whether or not I'll do something after. We'll have to wait and see ;)**

**Hazel Valdez, like I said above I'm not sure yet but I already know how Bella's first day is gonna go down ;)**

**Once again, thanks for the rest of your kind reviews, everyone!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Midnight Sun, nor any of the characters in it.**

Chapter Three: Phenomenon

Rosalie took the book from Emmett, and began reading. **"Phenomenon,"** she began.

"_'Phenomenon'_, hmm?" Carlisle pondered this. "I wonder what it could be. It doesn't really give any clues, does it?"

"Well, _'Open Book'_ turned out to be about Edward getting to know Bella more, so _'Phenomenon' _could really be anything," said Alice. "We really won't know until Rose actually starts reading." She looked pointedly at Rosalie as she said this, and Rosalie sighed.

**"Truly, I was not thirsty, but I decided to hunt again that night. A small ounce of prevention, inadequate though I knew it to be."**

"This is just making me more nervous for when we finally meet Bella," Edward said. "If I'm hunting every night – and glutting myself on food – yet Bella's blood is still infinitely better, how will I do this?"

"We'll deal with that when the time comes," Esme promised, patting his leg. "Bella won't be here for another few weeks, Edward. We have plenty of time to deal with this…problem."

"Which will still not really work, as I've never met anyone with blood like Bella's," Edward muttered. "And Emmett didn't last more than half a second before he attacked, so he can hardly help me."

"Yeah," Emmett agreed. "I have no idea how Edward will be able to do this. I'm not the best role model for this situation."

"Oh, don't worry!" Alice exclaimed, annoyed. "_I _will be helping him through this, and when he finds out what I know, he will work extra hard to make sure that he will be able to deal with it, okay? Trust me on this. I'm always right."

**"Carlisle came with me; we hadn't been alone together since I'd returned from Denali. As we ran through the black forest, I heard him thinking about that hasty goodbye last week.**

**In his memory, I saw the way my features had been twisted in fierce despair. I felt his surprise and sudden worry.**

"**_Edward?"_**

"**_I have to go, Carlisle. I have to go _****now****_."_**

"**_What's happened?"_**

"**_Nothing. Yet. But it will, if I stay."_**

**He'd reached for my arm. I felt how it had hurt him when I'd cringed away from his hand.**

"**_I don't understand."_**

"**_Have you ever...has there ever been a time..."_**

**I watched myself take a deep breath, saw the wild light in my eyes through the filter of his deep concern.**

"**_Has any one person ever smelled better to you than the rest of them? _****Much ****_better?"_**

"**_Oh."_**

**When I'd known that he understood, my face had fallen with shame." **

"Nonsense, Edward," Carlisle soothed him. "You needn't be thinking like that. It's remarkable, as we've said, that you didn't kill her. You shouldn't be ashamed of yourself."

"Bella's just too awesome," Emmett nodded along with him. "You couldn't have known that her blood doesn't run the same way other humans' does."

Edward smiled slightly. "Thank you."

**"He'd reached out to touch me, ignoring it when I'd recoiled again, and left his hand on my shoulder.**

"**_Do what you must to resist, son. I will miss you. Here, take my car. It's faster."_**

**He was wondering now if he'd done the right thing then, sending me away. Wondering if he had hurt me with his lack of trust."**

"Of course you didn't," Edward scoffed. "It was the only thing that you could have done."

"Yeah, if Edward had stayed, we'd _all _have had to go," Emmett agreed. "Bella would be a dead person like _that_ if he'd stayed."

"**No," I whispered as I ran. "That was what I needed. I might so easily have betrayed that trust, if you'd told me to stay."**

"Edward agrees," Emmett seemed pleased by this.

"Of _course_ he agrees, Emmett," Rosalie sighed. "We all know that it would have been incredibly stupid to allow Edward to stay in Forks."

"**I'm sorry you're suffering, Edward. But you should do what you can to keep the Swan child alive. Even if it means that you must leave us again."**

"**I know, I know."**

"You think you know everything," Emmett muttered.

"**Why ****_did _****you come back? You know how happy I am to have you here, but if this is too difficult..."**

"Because of Bellaaaaa," Alice sang. Edward rolled his eyes, still disbelieving that she could think he thought more of her than he believed he did.

"**I didn't like feeling like a coward," I admitted.**

**We'd slowed–we were barely jogging through the darkness now.**

"**Better that than to put her in danger. She'll be gone in a year or two."**

"**You're right, I know that." Contrarily, though, his words only made me more anxious to stay. The girl would be gone in a year or two..."**

Esme smiled at this, her eyes shining in her happiness.

Edward rolled his eyes again. "I doubt I mean what it sounds like."

**"Carlisle stopped running and I stopped with him; he turned to examine my expression.**

**_But you're not going to run, are you?_**

**I hung my head.**

**_Is it pride, Edward? There's no shame in–_**

"**No, it isn't pride that keeps me here. Not now."**

"You're right, it's Bella," Emmett agreed.

**_"Nowhere to go?_**

**I laughed shortly. "No. That wouldn't stop me, if I could make myself leave."**

**"We'll come with you, of course, if that's what you need. You only have to ask. You've moved on without complaint for the rest of them. They won't begrudge you for this."**

"I would," Rosalie guessed, thinking about how differently she was acting in this story.

**"I raised one eyebrow.**

**He laughed. "Yes, Rosalie might, but she owes you." **

Rosalie cracked a grin at this.

**"Anyway, it's much better for us to leave now, no damage done, than for us to leave later, after a life has been ended." All humour was gone by the end."**

Edward sighed. "You're not wrong."

**"I flinched at his words.**

"**Yes," I agreed. My voice sounded hoarse.**

**_But you're not leaving?_**

**I sighed. "I should."**

"**What holds you here, Edward? I'm failing to see..."**

"**I don't know if I can explain." Even to myself, it made no sense.**

**He measured my expression for a long moment.**

**_No, I do not see. But I will respect your privacy, if you prefer."_**

"Now why can't the rest of you do that?" Edward murmured, jokingly. Alice hit his leg in return.

"**Thank you. It's generous of you, seeing as how I give privacy to no one." With one exception. And I was doing what I could to deprive her of that, wasn't I?**

**_We all have our quirks. _****He laughed again. ****_Shall we?_**

**He'd just caught the scent of a small herd of deer. It was hard to rally much enthusiasm for what was, even under the best of circumstances, a less than mouth-watering aroma. Right now, with the memory of the girl's blood fresh in my mind, the smell actually turned my stomach."**

"Um…" Edward's mouth had fallen open.

"I mean, deer blood doesn't smell particularly _good_, but _disgusting?_" Jasper looked shocked.

"Well, you're definitely going to have fun with Bella," Emmett joked, trying to lighten the mood.

**"I sighed. "Let's," I agreed, though I knew that forcing more blood down my throat would help little.**

**We both shifted into a hunting crouch and let the unappealing scent pull us silently forward."**

"_'Unappealing',_" Rosalie quoted, staring at Edward in surprise. "I don't know about the rest of you, but this just makes my idea of leaving sound infinitely better than staying and allowing Edward to…to meet with this girl. And her ridiculous blood." She tried to keep the jealousy out of her tone, but Edward cocked his head as he listened to her thoughts; sensing it.

**"It was colder when we returned home. The melted snow had refrozen; it was as if a thin sheet of glass covered everything–each pine needle, each fern frond, each blade of grass was iced over."**

"Fascinating," Emmett rolled his eyes. "I love listening to descriptions of scenery."

"Don't we all?" Jasper asked rhetorically, chuckling.

**"While Carlisle went to dress for his early shift at the hospital, I stayed by the river, waiting for the sun to rise. I felt almost swollen from the amount of blood I'd consumed, but I knew the lack of actual thirst would mean little when I sat beside the girl again."**

"Well, it's just been confirmed," Edward shook his head. "Not going to enjoy that one bit."

Alice grinned at him. _I'll help you, remember?_

"Thanks, Alice," Edward replied. "But I doubt that your help will really help my situation much."

Alice simply smiled at this.

**"Cool and motionless as the stone I sat on, I stared at the dark water running beside the icy bank, stared right through it.**

**Carlisle was right. I should leave Forks. They could spread some story to explain my absence. Boarding school in Europe. Visiting distant relatives. Teenage runaway." **

"I wonder what gossip would spread at school?" Rosalie wondered.

"Well, if they really said teenage runaway, I imagine people would begin asking people who've talked to us what really made him leave," Alice answered. "I mean, maybe. Mike and Jessica would certainly ask Bella lots of questions."

"Yeah, I can see that happening," Rosalie agreed.

**"The story didn't matter. No one would question too intensely."**

"Except probably Bella," Esme said, shaking her head in wonder as she thought of the girl.

**"It was just a year or two, and then the girl would disappear. She would go on with her life–she would ****_have _****a life to go on with. She'd go to college somewhere, get older, start a career, perhaps marry someone.** **I could picture that–I could see the girl dressed all in white and walking at a measured pace, her arm through her father's."**

Rosalie's voice sounded very bitter as she read this, and Emmett reached out and pulled her into his arms.

"Don't worry, Rosie," Emmett said into her hair, calming her down.

Rosalie sighed. "Thanks, Em. It doesn't change the fact that Edward's right and we'll never get to do that."

Nobody quite knew what to say to that, so she kept reading.

**"It was odd, the pain that image caused me. I couldn't understand it. Was I jealous, because she had a future that I could never have? That made no sense. Every one of the humans around me had that same potential ahead of them– a life–and I rarely stopped to envy them."**

Alice and Esme smiled at each other, and this confirmed that they knew that the other was thinking the same thing.

_Female intuition,_ Alice thought, smug. Esme hadn't had any help, yet she'd managed to piece something about Edward and Bella – however little or large it was – together.

**"I should leave her to her future. Stop risking her life. That was the right thing to do. Carlisle always chose the right way. I should listen to him now.**

**The sun rose behind the clouds, and the faint light glistened off all the frozen grass.**

**One more day, I decided. I would see her one more time." **

"Wait," Emmett interrupted. "You don't want to leave because of Bella?" He sounded confused.

Alice laughed, and answered for Edward. "It seems like it, yes."

"I don't know how to explain my behaviour," Edward shrugged. "I'm acting a _lot _differently to how I usually act, I can tell you that much."

Alice bounced slightly in her seat in excitement. _Finally, stone-head._

Edward turned and glared at her.

**"I could handle that. Perhaps I would mention my pending disappearance, set the story up.**

**This was going to be difficult; I could feel that in the heavy reluctance that was already making me think of excuses to stay–to extend the deadline to two days, three, four..." **

"It _is _strange that I'm acting like this," Edward seemed deeply confused. "It's like…my head is trying to make me leave, but…"

"Deep down, you don't want to," Alice finished for him, staring knowingly at Esme.

"I…yes." Edward agreed, still confused.

**"But I would do the right thing. I knew I could trust Carlisle's advice. And I also knew that I was too conflicted to make the right decision alone.**

**Much too conflicted. How much of this reluctance came from my obsessive curiosity, and how much came from my unsatisfied appetite?"**

"A good question," Jasper agreed.

"I think the reluctance is a lot more to do with Bella herself than her _blood_," Carlisle answered the book again. He was getting good at making assumptions like that, Edward realised. What scared him more was that he knew the assumptions were true. He _wanted _to know more about Bella. It terrified him.

**"I went inside to change into fresh clothes for school.**

**Alice was waiting for me, sitting on the top step at the edge of the third floor.**

**_You're leaving again, _****she accused me.**

**I sighed and nodded.**

**_I can't see where you are going this time._**

"**I don't know where I'm going yet," I whispered.**

**_I want you to stay._**

**I shook my head.**

**_Maybe Jazz and I could come with you?"_**

"Excuse me?" Esme raised both of her eyebrows. "Like hell you would leave as well, missy."

Alice smirked, amused. "Sorry."

**"They'll need you all the more, if I'm not here to watch out for them. And think of Esme. Would you take half her family away in one blow?"**

"Thank you, Edward," Esme sighed. "At least somebody is making sense."

**_"You're going to make her so sad._**

"**I know. That's why you have to stay."**

**_That's not the same as having you here, and you know it."_**

_She's right, Edward, _Esme thought quietly.

**"Yes. But I have to do what's right."**

**_There are many right ways, and many wrong ways, though, aren't there?"_**

"I'm always right," Alice beamed. "The future holds so many opportunities, Edward. I hope you don't really leave."

**"For a brief moment she was swept away into one of her strange visions; I watched along with her as the indistinct images flickered and whirled. I saw myself mixed in with strange shadows that I couldn't make out–hazy, imprecise forms. And then, suddenly, my skin was glittering in the bright sunlight of a small, open meadow. This was a place I knew. There was a figure in the meadow with me, but, again, it was indistinct, not ****_there _****enough to recognise. The images shivered and disappeared as a million tiny choices rearranged the future again."**

"Fascinating," Carlisle whispered, having listened very intently to this. "Your visions are remarkable, Alice."

"I know," Alice agreed, immodestly.

**"I didn't catch much of that," I told her when the vision went dark.**

**_Me either. Your future is shifting around so much I can't keep up with any of it. I _****think, ****_though..._**

**She stopped, and she flipped through a vast collection of other recent visions for me. They were all the same–blurry and vague.**

"**I ****_think _****something is changing, though," she said out loud. "Your life seems to be at a crossroads."**

**I laughed grimly. "You do realise that you sound like a bogus gypsy at a carnival, right?"**

"Please, Edward," Alice's eyes rolled. "I'm so much better than a gypsy fortune-teller."

**"She stuck her tiny tongue out at me."**

"My tongue isn't tiny," Alice said indignantly, looking to Jasper for reassurance.

"Yes, it is, Alice," he smiled at her. "But you're so tiny, so of course your tongue is, too."

Alice huffed, irritated.

"**Today is all right, though, isn't it?" I asked, my voice abruptly apprehensive.**

"**I don't see you killing anyone today," she assured me.**

"**Thanks, Alice."**

"That sounds so funny to me," Emmett laughed loudly. "What a normal conversation _that_ is."

"**Go get dressed. I won't say anything–I'll let you tell the others when you're ready."**

"**She stood and darted back down the stairs, her shoulders hunched slightly. ****_Miss you. Really._**

**Yes, I would really miss her, too.**

**It was a quiet ride to school. Jasper could tell that Alice was upset about something, but he knew that if she wanted to talk about it she would have done so already. Emmett and Rosalie were oblivious, having another of their moments, gazing into each other's eyes with wonder—it was rather disgusting to watch from the outside." **

"Hey," Emmett frowned. Rosalie grinned at his put-out expression.

"Don't worry, honey. We don't need to listen to them," she assured him as she leaned back into him.

**"We were all quite aware how desperately in love they were." **

"We're hardly _desperately _in love," Rosalie looked at Edward, amused. "Interesting word choice there, Edward."

**"Or maybe I was just being bitter because I was the only one alone. Some days it was harder than others to live with three sets of perfectly matched lovers. This was one of them."**

Esme sighed, upset at this.

**"Maybe they would all be happier without me hanging around, ill-tempered and belligerent as the old man I should be by now."**

"We wouldn't be old," Emmett disagreed.

"Yeah, we'd be ancient," Alice laughed.

"I would be dead," Jasper pursed his lips slightly, considering this.

"As would I," Carlisle added.

_As is the natural order of things,_ Rosalie thought wistfully. Edward wasn't surprised by this thought.

**"Of course, the first thing I did when we reached the school was to look for the girl. Just preparing myself again.**

**Right."**

Everybody laughed at this, including Edward.

**"It was embarrassing how my world suddenly seemed to be empty of everything but her—my whole existence centred around the girl, rather than around myself anymore."**

Alice grinned at him so widely Edward wondered if her whole face might crack with the effort.

**"It was easy enough to understand, though, really; after eighty years of the same thing every day and every night, any change became a point of absorption."**

"Well, this could explain a lot," Edward pondered this new development. "Maybe that's all it is."

"I'm sure it is," Alice agreed, smirking.

**"She had not yet arrived, but could I hear the thunderous chugging of her truck's engine in the distance." **

"Disgusting," Rosalie's face twisted in revulsion as she imagined it. "I might just have to destroy her car so she's forced to get a better one."

**"I leaned against the side of the car to wait. Alice stayed with me, while the others went straight to class.** **They were bored with my fixation—it was incomprehensible to them how any human could hold my interest for so long, no matter how delicious she smelled."**

"See how different we're all acting?" Emmett found this intriguing.

"It's because we can't know Edward's thoughts," Jasper explained. "If we could – like we can right now – our attitudes would change dramatically."

"Yet you'd still be worried and overprotective," Alice rolled her eyes. "I'm literally just waiting for you to freak out over Bella."

**"The girl drove slowly into view, her eyes intent on the road and her hands tight on the wheel. She seemed anxious about something. It took me a second to figure out what that something was, to realize that every human wore the same expression today. Ah, the road was slick with ice, and they were all trying to drive more carefully. I could see she was taking the added risk seriously."**

"She's responsible," Carlisle guessed.

"It seems so," Edward was in agreement with him.

**"That seemed in line with what little I had learned of her character. I added this to my small list: she was a serious person, a responsible person.**

**She parked not too far from me, but she hadn't noticed me standing here yet, staring at her. I wondered what she would do when she did? Blush and walk away?**

**That was my first guess. But maybe she would stare back. Maybe she would come to talk to me.**

**I took a deep breath, filling my lungs hopefully, just in case."**

"Awww, that's cute!" Alice clapped happily.

"You say that every time I do something like that," Edward raised an eyebrow at her.

"And I wish I could tell you why," she winked at him secretly.

**"She got out of the truck with care, testing the slick ground before she put her weight on it. She didn't look up, and that frustrated me. Maybe I would go talk to her…**

**No, that would be wrong.**

**Instead of turning toward the school, she made her way to the rear of her truck, clinging to the side of the truck bed in a droll way, not trusting her footing."**

"She seems to be having a little bit more trouble with the ice," Esme said, worried.

"She's probably just a bit clumsy, or something like that," Carlisle soothed her.

"That doesn't really help Edward," Emmett cracked up. "She could fall and start bleeding…oh, man! That would be hilarious!"

"No, no it really wouldn't," Rosalie turned and glared at him.

**"It made me smile, and I felt Alice's eyes on my face. I didn't listen to whatever this made her think—I was having too much fun watching the girl check her snow chains. She actually looked in some danger of falling, the way her feet were sliding around. No one else was having trouble—had she parked in the worst of the ice?**

**She paused there, staring down with a strange expression on her face. It was…tender? As if something about the tire was making her…****_emotional?_****"**

"Odd," Carlisle commented.

"Indeed," Edward also seemed confused.

"And you'll never know why, mister I-can't-read-Bella's-mind," Emmett grinned, still very amused by this fact. Edward was upset when he realised that Emmett was right.

**"Again, the curiosity ached like a thirst. It was as if I ****_had _****to know what she was thinking—as if nothing else mattered."**

Emmett winked at him, still amused. Edward grumbled under his breath, trying to ignore him.

**"I would go talk to her. She looked like she could use a hand anyway, at least until she was off the slick pavement. Of course, I couldn't offer her that, could I? I hesitated, torn. As adverse as she seemed to be to snow, she would hardly welcome the touch of my cold white hand. I should have worn gloves—**

"**NO!" Alice gasped aloud."**

"Alice is very against you going over to help her," Emmett joked.

"Emmett!" Alice rolled her eyes. "I probably saw something."

"You must have," Carlisle agreed. "Not everything is a joke to you, is it Emmett?"

"Funny things are," he replied calmly.

**"Instantly, I scanned her thoughts, guessing at first that I had made a poor choice and she saw me doing something inexcusable. But it had nothing to do with me at all.**

**Tyler Crowley had chosen to take the turn into the parking lot at an injudicious speed. This choice would send him skidding across a patch of ice…**

**The vision came just half a second before the reality."**

"That's a short amount of warning," Esme observed. "Although, we don't know what the car will _do._"

"Imagine if it hit Bella," Emmett said, sobered.

"That wouldn't be funny." Edward glared at him.

"I know," Emmett said, completely serious. "I wasn't laughing."

**"Tyler's van rounded the corner as I was still watching the conclusion that had pulled the horrified gasp through Alice's lips.**

**No, this vision had nothing to do with me, and yet it had ****_everything _****to do with me, because Tyler's van—the tyres right now hitting the ice at the worst possible angle— was going to spin across the lot and crush the girl who had become the uninvited focal point of my world."**

"Oh _no,_" Edward gasped.

"Hey, I was right," Emmett commented, but was still not joking.

"Edward, get out of there…" Rosalie muttered, her eyebrows drawing together.

**"Even without Alice's foresight it would have been simple enough to read the trajectory of the vehicle, flying out of Tyler's control.**

**The girl, standing in the exactly wrong place at the back of her truck, looked up, bewildered by the sound of the screeching tires. She looked straight into my horror-struck eyes, and then turned to watch her approaching death.**

**_Not her! _****The words shouted in my head as if they belonged to someone else."**

Even with everything that was going on, Esme and Alice still turned and stared wide-eyed into each other's eyes. Rosalie finally noticed this, and thought about the words Edward had just thought.

_'Not her'_, she thought, thinking about them. Very quickly, her mouth fell open and she inhaled sharply. "No!" She exclaimed.

"What, Rose?" Alice asked her.

"No!" She simply said again. "No! Really?!"

"Some more information, please," Alice said patiently.

"The-the words! Alice! IS THIS WHAT YOU KNOW?" She suddenly said louder, standing up in her anxious state.

"YES!" Alice cried. "Presuming we're on the same page, which I think we are, then YES!"

"Do you know, Rosalie?" Esme beamed at her.

"I have a very strong feeling I do!" Rosalie was shocked.

"I think she does, Esme!" Alice got up and hugged her. "Isn't it exciting!?"

"I mean, it's _shocking_," Rosalie said, shaking her head, her mouth still open. "_Really?_"

"I can't think of anybody else," Alice said cryptically, still trying to keep Edward out of the loop. "Make sure Edward doesn't know you're thinking about it."

"Aw, come on!" Edward interjected.

"Can somebody _please _tell me what's going on?" Emmett sat up, annoyed.

"Female intuition is what's going on," Alice beamed at him. "Don't worry, Em – I'm sure you'll find out soon."

Rosalie sat back down, dazed, and picked up the book to keep reading. Her thoughts trailed from shock and incredulity to those of…jealousy. Edward was surprised, although he had no idea why she was feeling these things. He exchanged a look with Jasper, who could also feel her strong emotions, but he shrugged. If Rose was keeping Edward out, they couldn't know.

**"Still locked into Alice's thoughts, I saw the vision suddenly shift, but I had no time to see what the outcome would be.**

**I launched myself across the lot," **

Rosalie stopped reading, and turned to glare menacingly at Edward. "_Edward Cullen,_" she hissed. _"What _on _sweet_ earth are you _thinking?!"_

Edward shrank away from the ferocity of her glare, before charging right back in. "I agree, Rose – it's extreme –"

"It's _dangerous_," she said furiously.

"I can't just let Bella _die_!" He exclaimed, surprising himself that he was protecting Bella. "Not after all the effort I've put into keeping her alive!" He agreed with what he was saying, though.

"Edward!" Jasper also looked angry. "Do you have any idea what this could mean for us? We'll be in danger – Alice will be in danger!"

"_Jasper_," Alice rolled her eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you, I'm _fine_? I can protect myself, thanks."

Jasper ignored this, still glaring at Edward.

"Just keep reading," Carlisle suggested calmly, ever diplomatic. "Perhaps the situation won't be as bad as we think it might be."

Rosalie obliged and began reading, but was now thinking a large string of insults at Edward to keep him out of her head, and stop him from knowing what she now knew.

**"throwing myself between the skidding van and the frozen girl. I moved so fast that everything was a streaky blur except for the object of my focus. She didn't see me—no human eyes could have followed my flight—still staring at the hulking shape that was about to grind her body into the metal frame of her truck.**

**I caught her around the waist, moving with too much urgency to be as gentle as she would need me to be. In the hundredth of a second between the time that I yanked her slight form out of the path of death and the time that I crashed into to the ground with her in my arms, I was vividly aware of her fragile, breakable body."**

"I wonder what Bella's thinking right now?" Emmett asked no one, trying to alleviate the tense mood.

**"When I heard her head crack against the ice, it felt like I had turned to ice, too."**

"I'm sure she's fine," Carlisle assured him. "I doubt you'd be able to hurt Bella when you're trying so actively to save her."

"You can't know that," Edward doubted him.

"On the contrary, I do know that," Carlisle smiled at him knowingly. "Not only am I a doctor, but I am a father and a husband. I doubt you've hurt her, Edward."

**"But I didn't even have a full second to ascertain her condition. I heard the van behind us, grating and squealing as it twisted around the sturdy iron body of the girl's truck. It was changing course, arcing, coming for her again—like she was a magnet, pulling it toward us.**

**A word I'd never said before in the presence of a lady slid between my clenched teeth."**

"The horror!" Emmett clapped a hand over his mouth.

**"I had already done too much. As I'd nearly flown through the air to push her out of the way, I'd been fully aware of the mistake I was making. Knowing that it was a mistake did not stop me, but I was not oblivious to the risk I was taking—taking, not just for myself, but for my entire family.**

**Exposure."**

"Ugh, _finally _you realise the danger!" Rosalie complained. "You'll never have any idea of knowing what Bella saw, either – I really, really don't like this. At all, Edward." She was glaring daggers at him by the end of this little speech.

**"And ****_this _****certainly wasn't going to help, but there was no way I was going to allow the van to succeed in its second attempt to take her life.**

**I dropped her and threw my hands out, catching the van before it could touch the girl. The force of it hurled me back into the car parked beside her truck, and I could feel its frame buckle behind my shoulders. The van shuddered and shivered against the unyielding obstacle of my arms, and then swayed, balancing unstably on the two far tires.**

**If I moved my hands, the back tire of the van was going fall onto her legs."**

Everybody groaned at this.

"Something's telling me that Bella might have some seriously bad luck," Emmett chuckled.

**"Oh, for the ****_love _****of ****_all _****that was ****_holy_****, would the catastrophes never end? Was there anything else that could go wrong?" **

"I wouldn't say that, what if something really unexpected happens?" Emmett tapped his chin as he pondered this. "Remember those dinosaurs I was asking about? One of them could come and try to kill Bella, too."

Edward sighed. "Whatever you say, Em."

**"I could hardly sit here, holding the van in the air, and wait for rescue. Nor could I throw the van away—there was the driver to consider, his thoughts incoherent with panic."**

"You would think that he would notice that his car had been lifted up, or whatever," Jasper said.

"I seem to think things through in a short amount of time," Edward replied. "I doubt more than a few seconds have passed since Alice saw the vision."

**"With an internal groan, I shoved the van so that it rocked away from us for an instant. As it fell back toward me, I caught it under the frame with my right hand while I wrapped my left arm around the girl's waist again and drug her out from under the van, pulling her tight up against my side." **

_Wanky,_ Emmett thought, winking at Edward. He sighed once more.

**"Her body moved limply as I swung her around so that her legs would be in the clear—was she conscious? How much damage had I done to her in my impromptu rescue attempt?**

**I let the van drop, now that it could not hurt her. It crashed to the pavement, all the windows shattering in unison.**

**I knew that I was in the middle of a crisis. How much had she seen?" **

"_Crisis _doesn't quite cover it," Jasper muttered.

**"Had any other witnesses watched me materialize at her side and then juggle the van while I tried to keep her out from under it? These questions ****_should _****be my biggest concern."**

"But instead you're worried about Bella," Alice smirked. "You're becoming rather predictable, don't you think Edward?"

"Please," Edward rolled his eyes. "If her blood spills, I will be far more of a risk to our family. I'm worried about that. That must be what the _'not her!'_ thing was about," he explained.

_Sure, sure,_ Alice waved a hand at his attempts of explanation.

**"But I was too anxious to really care about the threat of exposure as much as I should. Too panic-stricken that I might have injured her myself in my effort to protect her. Too frightened to have her this close to me, knowing what I would smell if I allowed myself to inhale. Too aware of the heat of her soft body, pressed against mine—even through the double obstacle of our jackets, I could feel that heat…"**

"That's what she said," Emmett's lips curved up into a wicked smile.

**"The first fear was the greatest fear. As the screaming of the witnesses erupted around us, I leaned down to examine her face, to see if she was conscious—hoping fiercely that she was not bleeding anywhere."**

"I'm sure you would've noticed that by now," Carlisle assured him.

"I think I said that I'm not breathing," Edward responded. "So I might not."

**"Her eyes were open, staring in shock."**

Rosalie and Jasper growled. Edward turned and glared at each of them, while internally he was still wondering why on earth he was doing so.

"**Bella?" I asked urgently. "Are you all right?"**

"**I'm fine." She said the words automatically in a dazed voice."**

"Hmm," Carlisle commented, thinking. "I think Bella may have been hurt quite a bit if she said the words 'automatically'," he smiled. "Which would go along with the idea that she could have some very bad luck."

"I hope you're wrong," Edward groaned.

"Are you kidding? I hope he's right!" Emmett grinned at him. "Bella will make you so much more fun to be around, Eddiekins. I honestly can't wait to meet her."

**"Relief, so exquisite it was nearly pain, washed through me at the sound of her voice. I sucked in a breath through my teeth, and did not mind the accompanying burn in my throat. I almost welcomed it."**

"Almost," Edward quoted.

"Still, the way you're able to do that is astonishing, Edward," Carlisle said approvingly.

**"She struggled to sit up, but I was not ready to release her. It felt somehow…safer? Better, at least, having her tucked into my side."**

"Which makes _no _sense at all," Edward frowned.

"Oh, it makes sense," Alice smiled sweetly at him.

"**Be careful," I warned her. "I think you hit your head pretty hard."**

**There had been no smell of fresh blood—a mercy, that—but this did not rule out internal damage. I was abruptly anxious to get her to Carlisle and a full complement of radiology equipment."**

"She hasn't seen Carlisle before, has she?" Alice wondered.

"No, and she hasn't seen me before, either," Esme answered her. "I hope she does soon."

"She has only spoken to Edward, though," Alice muttered, annoyed by this fact. "I wonder whether book-me wants to talk to her?"

"You probably do," Edward laughed. "You'll probably know something that I don't, like you do right now."

Alice beamed. "You're right, actually. I would." She sighed. "I hope I get to talk to her soon also."

"**Ow," she said, her tone comically shocked as she realized I was right about her head.**

"**That's what I thought." Relief made it funny to me, made me almost giddy.**

"**How in the…" Her voice trailed off, and her eyelids fluttered. "How did you get over here so fast?"**

"She saw too much," Rosalie's eyes tightened.

"No, she might not have," Alice said, protecting Bella. "She saw Edward by his car, so she'll be wondering how he got all the way over to her so fast." She frowned. "It doesn't really specify _how _far Bella is away from Edward, but…"

"It doesn't matter, Alice," Jasper said calmly. "Bella's going to now wonder about Edward, and we won't know what she's thinking, because for some unknown reason Edward can't hear her thoughts."

"That's not Bella's fault," Edward defended her. "It's not really mine either. Bella's mind just…sounds different, I suppose you could say."

**"The relief turned sour, the humor vanished. She ****_had _****noticed too much.**

**Now that it appeared that the girl was in decent shape, the anxiety for my family became severe."**

"Good," Rosalie nodded sharply.

"**I was standing right next to you, Bella." I knew from experience that if I was very confident as I lied, it made any questioner less sure of the truth."**

Esme turned to look at Edward now. "And do you lie often, Edward?"

"No," Edward lied. Then at her look of disbelief, he said, "Only to humans."

"That's still not good behaviour, Edward," Esme sighed. "But nothing I can say will make you stop, will it?"

"No; especially when there is a necessity for me to lie," Edward chuckled. "But I am sorry, Esme."

Esme sighed again.

**"She struggled to move again, and this time I allowed it. I needed to breathe so that I could play my role correctly. I needed space from her warm-blooded heat so that it would not combine with her scent to overwhelm me. I slid away from her, as far as was possible in the small space between the wrecked vehicles.**

**She stared up at me, and I stared back. To look away first was a mistake only an incompetent liar would make, and I was not an incompetent liar. My expression was smooth, benign… It seemed to confuse her. That was good.**

**The accident scene was surrounded now. Mostly students, children, peering and pushing through the cracks to see if any mangled bodies were visible."**

Emmett chuckled at this.

"_How_ is that funny, Emmett?" Edward wondered, not sure if he wanted the answer.

"It's not really. It just sounds funny; the way you put it," he clarified.

**"There was a babble of shouting and a gush of shocked thought. I scanned the thoughts once to make sure there were no suspicions yet, and then tuned it out and concentrated only on the girl."**

"So, once again, Bella is the exception," Rosalie muttered.

**"She was distracted by the bedlam. She glanced around, her expression still stunned, and tried to get to her feet.**

**I put my hand lightly on her shoulder to hold her down.**

"**Just stay put for now." She ****_seemed _****alright, but should she really be moving her neck?**

**Again, I wished for Carlisle. My years of theoretical medical study were no match for his centuries of hands-on medical practice.**

"**But it's cold," she objected."**

"That's what she's worried about?" Alice laughed. "Oh, Bella."

**"She had almost been crushed to death two distinct times and crippled one more, and it was the cold that worried her. A chuckle slid through my teeth before I could remember that the situation was not funny."**

Rosalie looked appreciative of this.

**"Bella blinked, and then her eyes focused on my face. "You were over there."**

"Oh no," Esme said.

**"That sobered me again.**

**She glanced toward the south, though there was nothing to see now but the crumpled side of the van. "You were by your car."**

"I'm sure it would be easy to dissuade her," Jasper mused. "Unless, she's the exception to _that_ rule as well."

Edward smirked. "I hope she's not the exception to _every _rule."

"**No, I wasn't."**

"**I saw you," she insisted; her voice was childlike when she was being stubborn.** **Her chin jutted out."**

"Edward's perfect match," Emmett joked. "You're both just as stubborn as the other."

"I'd love to see an argument between them," Alice laughed. "It would be the funniest thing to witness, ever."

"**Bella, I was standing with you, and I pulled you out of the way."**

**I stared deeply into her wide eyes, trying to will her into accepting my version— the only rational version on the table.**

**Her jaw set. "No."**

Emmett and Alice laughed harder.

**"I tried to stay calm, to not panic. If only I could keep her quiet for a few moments, to give me a chance to destroy the evidence….and undermine her story by disclosing her head injury.**

**Shouldn't it be easy to keep this silent, secretive girl quiet? If only she would trust me, just for a few moments…**

"**Please, Bella," I said, and my voice was too intense, because I suddenly ****_wanted _****her to trust me. Wanted it badly, and not just in regards to this accident. A stupid desire."**

"Yes," Edward agreed. "Why on earth would Bella trusting me be a good thing?"

_I can think of several reasons, _Alice thought, still very, very smug.

**"What sense would it make for her to trust ****_me_****?**

"**Why?" she asked, still defensive.**

"**Trust me," I pleaded.**

"**Will you promise to explain everything to me later?"**

**It made me angry to have to lie to her again, when I so much wished that I could somehow deserve her trust. So, when I answered her, it was a retort.**

"**Fine."**

"**Fine," she echoed in the same tone."**

"Just like two children," Esme said, amused.

**"While the rescue attempt began around us—adults arriving, authorities called, sirens in the distance—I tried to ignore the girl and get my priorities in the right order. I searched through every mind in the lot, the witnesses and the latecomers both, but I could find nothing dangerous. Many were surprised to see me here beside Bella, but all concluded—as there was no other possible conclusion—that they had just not noticed me standing by the girl before the accident."**

"Why can't Bella just be like them?" Jasper muttered.

**"She was the only one who didn't accept the easy explanation, but she would be considered the least reliable witness. She had been frightened, traumatized, not to mention sustaining the blow to the head. Possibly in shock. It would be acceptable for her story to be confused, wouldn't it? No one would give it much credence above so many other spectators…**

**I winced when I caught the thoughts of Rosalie, Jasper and Emmett, just arriving on the scene. There would be hell to pay for this tonight."**

Rosalie and Jasper cracked a smile at this.

_You're not wrong,_ Rosalie agreed.

**"I wanted to iron out the indention my shoulders had made against the tan car, but the girl was too close. I'd have to wait till she was distracted.**

**It was frustrating to wait—so many eyes on me—as the humans struggled with the van, trying to pull it away from us. I might have helped them, just to speed the process, but I was already in enough trouble and the girl had sharp eyes."**

"Which is amazing," Carlisle added.

"Would it really be, though?" Edward asked. "If she figured out what we were…"

"Then we could leave before she had a chance to test it," Rosalie butted in. "We've done such a thing before."

Edward sighed. "I suppose we could just do that."

"**Finally, they were able to shift it far enough away for the EMTs to get to us with their stretchers.**

**A familiar, grizzled face appraised me.**

"**Hey, Edward," Brett Warner said. He was also a registered nurse, and I knew him well from the hospital. It was a stroke of luck—the only luck today—that he was the first through to us. In his thoughts, he was noting that I looked alert and calm. "You okay, kid?"**

"**Perfect, Brett. Nothing touched me. But I'm afraid Bella here might have a concussion. She really hit her head when I yanked her out of the way…"**

**Brett turned his attention to the girl, who shot me a fierce look of betrayal. Oh, that was right. She was the quiet martyr—she'd prefer to suffer in silence."**

Edward found this amusing. He smiled at her show of bravery.

**"She did not contradict my story immediately, though, and this made me feel easier."**

"I wonder if Bella really would say anything?" Esme asked nobody in particular. "I mean, she didn't tell anyone about what happened on her first day."

"That we know of," Rosalie added.

"It does seem like she might not," Edward agreed. "But we'll never know for sure."

"Which is exactly why she is dangerous to us," Rosalie said, frowning.

**"The next EMT tried to insist that I allow myself to be treated, but it wasn't too difficult to dissuade him. I promised I would let my father examine me, and he let it go.**

**With most humans, speaking with cool assurance was all that was needed. Most humans, just not the girl, of course. Did she fit into ****_any _****of the normal patterns?"**

"I'm beginning to think she might not," Edward muttered.

"Oh, _finally_," Alice shook her head. "We've all been in agreement that she's different for ages, and you only agree now?"

"Well, I didn't think she was too important," Edward defended himself.

"Yet now you do?" She found this funny.

Edward shrugged. "She seems to be a pretty big part of this book – who knows why – so she has to be."

Esme, Alice and Rosalie all exchanged quick looks.

**"As they put a neck brace on her—and her face flushed scarlet with embarrassment—I used the moment of distraction to quietly rearrange the shape of the dent in the tan car with the back of my foot. Only my siblings noticed what I was doing, and I heard Emmett's mental promise to catch anything I missed."**

"Seems like I've forgiven you," Emmett noted. "Although I might not have thought badly of you at all."

**"Grateful for his help—and more grateful that Emmett, at least, had already forgiven my dangerous choice—I was more relaxed as I climbed into the front seat of the ambulance next to Brett."**

"You know I'm just too awesome," Emmett grinned at him. "I couldn't be mad at you for too long. What would you do without me?"

**"The chief of police arrived before they had gotten Bella into the back of the ambulance.**

**Though Bella's father's thoughts were past words, the panic and concern emanating out of the man's mind drowned out just about every other thought in the vicinity.**

**Wordless anxiety and guilt, a great swell of them, washed out of him as he saw his only daughter on the gurney.** **Washed out of him and through me, echoing and growing stronger. When Alice had warned me that killing Charlie Swan's daughter would kill him, too, she had not been exaggerating."**

"I wonder how on earth I would know that," Alice said out loud.

**"My head bowed with that guilt as I listened to his panicked voice.**

"**Bella!" he shouted.**

"**I'm completely fine, Char—Dad." She sighed. "There's nothing wrong with me."**

**Her assurance barely soothed his dread. He turned at once to the closest EMT and demanded more information.**

**I wasn't until I heard him speaking, forming perfectly coherent sentences despite his panic, that I realized that his anxiety and concern were ****_not _****wordless. I just…could not hear the exact words."**

Carlisle and Edward found this immensely interesting.

**"Hmm. Charlie Swan was not as silent as his daughter, but I could see where she got it from. Interesting."**

"I might need to go down and have a listen to his thoughts," Edward mused. "I've not noticed that before."

**"I'd never spent much time around the town's police chief. I'd always taken him for a man of slow thought—now I realized that ****_I _****was the one who was slow. His thoughts were partially concealed, not absent. I could only make out the tenor, the tone of them…**

**I wanted to listen harder, to see if I could find in this new, lesser puzzle the key to the girl's secrets. But Bella was loaded into the back by then, and the ambulance was on its way.**

**It was hard to tear myself away from this possible solution to the mystery that had come to obsess me. But I had to think now—to look at what had been done today from every angle. I had to listen, to make sure that I had not put us all in so much danger that we would have to leave immediately. I had to concentrate.**

**There was nothing in the thoughts of the EMTs to worry me. As far as they could tell, there was nothing seriously wrong with the girl. And Bella was sticking to the story I'd provided, thus far."**

"She'll totally keep it secret, won't she?" Alice mused. "Something's telling me that there's no reason for her to suddenly change her story."

"She thinks I'll tell her the truth later," Edward sighed.

"Which you won't be doing," Rosalie nodded, understanding. "But maybe Alice is still right – she doesn't really sound like a danger to me."

"Yet you're still itching for us to leave?" Edward asked her, confused.

"No. I think _you're _the danger there," she explained. "I want us to leave so you don't…"

"Do something bad?" Edward suggested, glaring slightly.

"Yes." Rosalie pursed her lips. "I don't like leaving things to chance."

"I do see your point, but I think we still need to wait until Edward finds out that thing that we know," Alice stared at her pointedly, and Rosalie sighed, nodding in agreement.

**"The first priority, when we reached the hospital, was to see Carlisle. I hurried through the automatic doors, but I was unable to totally forgo watching after Bella; I kept an eye on her through the paramedics' thoughts."**

"Adorable," Esme smiled.

**"It was easy to find my father's familiar mind. He was in his small office, all alone—the second stroke of luck in this luckless day.**

"**Carlisle."**

**He'd heard my approach, and he was alarmed as soon as he saw my face. He jumped to his feet, his face paling to bone white." **

"I think you've killed Bella," Carlisle sighed.

**"He leaned forward across the neatly organized walnut desk.**

**_Edward—you didn't—_**

"**No, no, it's not that."**

**He took a deep breath. ****_Of course not. I'm sorry I entertained the thought. Your eyes, of course, I should have known… _****He noted my still-golden eyes with relief.**

"**She's hurt, though, Carlisle, probably not seriously, but—"**

"**What happened?"**

"**A stupid car accident. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But I couldn't just stand there—let it crush her—"**

"I hope you beat him up," Rosalie smirked.

"Like I would ever do such a thing, Rosalie Hale," Carlisle was offended by this.

**_"Start over, I don't understand. How were you involved?_**

"**A van skidded across the ice," I whispered. I stared at the wall behind him while I spoke. Instead of a throng of framed diplomas, he had one simple oil painting—a favourite of his, an undiscovered Hassam. "She was in the way. Alice saw it coming, but there wasn't time to do anything but really ****_run _****across the lot and shove her out of the way. No one noticed…except for her. I had to stop the van, too, but again, nobody saw that…besides her. I'm…I'm sorry Carlisle. I didn't mean to put us in danger."**

"I really wish that there was something like this book that would let us see into Bella's thoughts," Emmett stated. "Imagine that? We'd have Bella's and Edward's thoughts right there on the shelf next to Pride and Prejudice and The Hunger Games."

**"He circled the desk and put his hand on my shoulder.**

**_You did the right thing. And it couldn't have been easy for you. I'm proud of you, Edward."_**

"Don't understand how that could be the _right _thing, but okay," Rose whispered to herself.

**"I could look him in the eye then. "She knows there's something…wrong with me."**

**"That doesn't matter. If we have to leave, we leave. What has she said?"**

**I shook my head, a little frustrated. "Nothing yet."**

**_Yet?_**

"**She agreed to my version of events—but she's expecting an explanation."**

**He frowned, pondering this.**

"**She hit her head—well, I did that," I continued quickly. "I knocked her to the ground fairly hard. She seems fine, but… I don't think it will take much to discredit her account."**

**I felt like a cad just saying the words."**

Esme smiled at this.

"You think anytime one of us acts nicely it is reason to smile," Emmett rolled his eyes as he noticed this.

"Well," Esme said. "We're vampires, after all. Acting nicely sometimes isn't easy for us. So I love it when you do."

**"Carlisle heard the distaste in my voice. ****_Perhaps that won't be necessary. Let's see what happens, shall we? It sounds like I have a patient to check on._**

"**Please," I said. "I'm so worried that I hurt her."**

Everybody smiled at this, looking at Edward.

"That's quite a change, isn't it?" Jasper laughed. "Considering where he was just a week ago."

"Not even just a week – over these past few days," Alice laughed with him.

**"Carlisle's expression brightened. He smoothed his fair hair—just a few shades lighter than his golden eyes—and he laughed.**

**_It's been an interesting day for you, hasn't it? _****In his mind, I could see the irony, and it was humourous, at least to him. Quite the reversal of roles. Somewhere during that short thoughtless second when I'd sprinted across the icy lot, I had transformed from killer to protector."**

"Edward Cullen, the protector of the girl with the most appealing blood ever," Emmett quoted. "So funny."

**"I laughed with him, remembering how sure I'd been that Bella would never need protecting from anything more than myself. There was an edge to my laugh because, van notwithstanding, that was still entirely true.**

**I waited alone in Carlisle's office—one of the longer hours I had ever lived—listening to the hospital full of thoughts.**

**Tyler Crowley, the van's driver, looked to be hurt worse than Bella, and the attention shifted to him while she waited her turn to be X-rayed. Carlisle kept in the background, trusting the PA's diagnosis that the girl was only slightly injured. This made me anxious, but I knew he was right. One glance at his face and she would be immediately reminded of me, of the fact that there was something not right about my family, and that might set her talking."**

Esme frowned as she heard this. "No, I am with Alice on this – it doesn't seem like she will say anything, either way. That is, unless you do something specifically to try and scare her away."

"Yeah, like running at full speed killing humans before her very eyes," Emmett nodded. "And then you'll lean over and drink their blood. Bella totally would talk then."

"That's the lengths to which you think we must take it to make Bella talk?" Rosalie's eyebrows rose.

"Sure. No, not really. But she doesn't seem like the type to do that. I'm with Esme and Alice."

**"She certainly had a willing enough partner to converse with. Tyler was consumed with guilt over the fact that he had almost killed her, and he couldn't seem to shut up about it. I could see her expression through his eyes, and it was clear that she wished he would stop. How did he not see that?**

**There was a tense moment for me when Tyler asked her how she'd gotten out of the way.**

**I waited, not breathing, as she hesitated.**

**_"Um..." _****he heard her say. Then she paused for so long that Tyler wondered if his question had confused her. Finally, she went on. ****_"Edward pulled me out of the way."_**

Alice, Esme and Emmett were smug now.

"I knew it," Alice said simply.

**"I exhaled. And then my breathing accelerated. I'd never heard her speak my name before. I like the way it sounded—even just hearing it through Tyler's thoughts. I wanted to hear it for myself…"**

"Wanky," Rosalie smirked, very amused.

"**_Edward Cullen," _****she said, when Tyler didn't realize who she meant. I found myself at the door, my hand on the knob. The desire to see her was growing stronger." **

"I wonder which desire _that _could possibly be?" Emmett looked at Rosalie, both of them laughing internally.

**"I had to remind myself of the need for caution.**

"**_He was standing next to me."_**

"**_Cullen?" Huh. That's weird. "I didn't see him." I could have sworn… "Wow, it was all so fast, I guess. Is he okay?"_**

"**_I think so. He's here somewhere, but they didn't make him use a stretcher."_**

**I saw the thoughtful look on her face, the suspicious tightening of her eyes, but these little changes in her expression were lost on Tyler.**

**_She's pretty, _****he was thinking, almost in surprise.** **_Even all messed up. Not my usual type, still… I should take her out. Make up for today…"_**

"Of course he only notices that now," Alice rolled her eyes.

**"I was out in the hall, then, halfway to the emergency room, without thinking for one second about what I was doing. Luckily, the nurse entered the room before I could— it was Bella's turn for X-rays. I leaned against the wall in a dark nook just around the corner, and tried to get a grip on myself while she was wheeled away.**

**It didn't matter that Tyler thought she was pretty. Anyone would notice that.** **There was no reason for me to feel…how ****_did _****I feel? Annoyed? Or was ****_angry _****closer to the truth? That made no sense at all."**

"It's called jealousy, brother," Emmett grinned. "You're jealous."

"He only thinks she's _pretty_," Edward muttered. "That gives me no reason to be jealous, Emmett."

"Whatever you say," Emmett didn't believe him.

**"I stayed where I was for as long as I could, but impatience got the best of me and I took a back way around to the radiology room. She'd already been moved back to the ER, but I was able to take a peek at her x-rays while the nurse's back was turned.**

**I felt calmer when I had. Her head was fine. I hadn't hurt her, not really.**

**Carlisle caught me there.**

**_You look better, _****he commented.**

**I just looked straight ahead. We weren't alone, the halls full of orderlies and visitors.**

**_Ah, yes. _****He stuck her x-rays to the light board, but I didn't need a second look. ****_I see. She's absolutely fine. Well done, Edward."_**

"That's not a good thing to say," Rosalie muttered. "Now you've gone and given him the impression that doing crazy, ridiculous things like this is a _good _thing to do."

**"The sound of my father's approval created a mixed reaction in me. I would have been pleased, except that I knew that he would not approve of what I was going to do now. At least, he would not approve if he knew my real motivations…"**

"Wait, what am I going to do now? Did I miss something?" Edward asked, alarmed.

"Calm down, Edward. I think you're just going to dissuade Bella from thinking we're not normal," Alice soothed him.

"Yeah, but I sound so…intense?"

"Maybe you'll be harsh, or something like that," Rose wondered. _I hope so. Bella can't know about us._

**"I think I'm going to go talk to her—before she sees you," I murmured under my breath. "Act natural, like nothing happened. Smooth it over." All acceptable reasons.**

**Carlisle nodded absently, still looking over the x-rays. "Good idea. Hmm."**

**I looked to see what had his interest.**

**_Look at all the healed contusions! How many times did her mother drop her?_** **Carlisle laughed to himself at his joke."**

"That's not funny," Esme glared at her husband.

"I'm sorry, Esme," Carlisle kissed her forehead.

"Bella has very bad luck, doesn't she?" Edward mused.

**"I'm beginning to think the girl just has really bad luck. Always in the wrong place at the wrong time."**

**_Forks is certainly the wrong place for her, with you here._**

**I flinched."**

"That was nice, Carlisle," Alice grinned at him.

"I'm not wrong, though…right?" Carlisle asked hesitantly.

"You aren't, but just you wait," she replied. "Soon everything will be revealed…"

"You sound so creepy," Emmett muttered, "like you're an evil villain."

**_"Go ahead. Smooth things over. I'll join you momentarily._**

**I walked away quickly, feeling guilty. Perhaps I was too good a liar, if I could fool Carlisle."**

"But what am I lying about!?" Edward really wanted to know.

"We've established that it will probably just be you smoothing things over with Bella in a particularly harsh way," Alice explained patiently.

"Okay, but I just can't help feeling anxious when I think as cryptically as that," Edward said, rubbing his temples. "This book is making my head hurt."

**"When I got to the ER, Tyler was mumbling under his breath, still apologising.**

**The girl was trying to escape his remorse by pretending to sleep. Her eyes were closed, but her breathing was not even, and now and then her fingers would twitch impatiently.**

**I stared at her face for a long moment. This was the last time I would see her.** **That fact triggered an acute aching in my chest."**

_Ahhhhhhhhhhh!_ Alice thought, super excited.

_That's pretty cute,_ Rosalie thought at the same time.

"I don't understand," Edward said pathetically. Alice and Rose exchanged amused looks.

**"Was it because I hated to leave any puzzle unsolved? That did not seem like enough of an explanation.**

**Finally, I took a deep breath and moved into view.**

**When Tyler saw me, he started to speak, but I put one finger to my lips.**

"**Is she sleeping?" I murmured.**

**Bella's eyes snapped open and focused on my face. They widened momentarily, and then narrowed in anger or suspicion. I remembered that I had a role to play, so I smiled at her as if nothing unusual had happened this morning—besides a blow to her head and a bit of imagination run wild.**

"**Hey, Edward," Tyler said. "I'm really sorry—"**

**I raised one hand to halt his apology. "No blood, no foul," I said wryly. Without thinking, I smiled too widely at my private joke.**

"Don't be giving her ideas!" Rosalie hissed at the book.

"She can't hear you, Rosie," Emmett patted her back.

**"It was amazingly easy to ignore Tyler, lying no more than four feet from me, covered in fresh blood." **

Edward's eyebrows shot up at this.

"It'll be because of Bella being right there," Carlisle observed. "It's amazing that her blood is that potent that you can ignore that temptation."

"Maybe Bella should be around you at all times," Emmett said sarcastically.

"Yeah, if that happened then the only human Edward would be thinking of killing would be her," Jasper joked with him.

"I don't see how that's funny," Rosalie rolled her eyes.

**"I'd never understood how Carlisle was able to do that—ignore the blood of his patients in order to treat them. Wouldn't the constant temptation be so distracting, so dangerous…? But, now… I could see how, if you were focusing on something else ****_hard _****enough, the temptation was be nothing at all.**

**Even fresh and exposed, Tyler's blood had nothing on Bella's."**

"You sound so proud when you think that," Emmett laughed. "Like, 'Bella's blood is better than all of yours put together!'"

**"I kept my distance from her, seating myself on the foot of Tyler's mattress.**

"**So, what's the verdict?" I asked her.**

**Her lower lip pushed out a little. "There's nothing wrong with me at all, but they won't let me go. How come you aren't strapped to a gurney like the rest of us?"**

**Her impatience made me smile again."**

"Impatience. You two are so alike sometimes," Jasper commented dryly.

**"I could hear Carlisle in the hall now.**

"**It's all about who you know," I said lightly. "But don't worry, I came to spring you."**

**I watched her reaction carefully as my father entered the room. Her eyes widened and her mouth actually fell open in surprise. I groaned internally. Yes, she'd certainly noticed the resemblance."**

"Of course she did," Rosalie sighed.

"Rose, it's not the end of the world. So she noticed that Carlisle looks like Edward, big deal," Alice said impatiently.

"It is a big deal actually, because I'm sure she's also noticed that we look him as well!" She turned her venom on Alice now. "If she has, then she'll wonder why we're all adopted yet we all look the same."

"We don't _really _look the same," Emmett looked at them all.

"Yeah, aside from the golden eyes and super pale skin, we're all different," Jasper agreed.

"Because it's totally normal for us all to have golden eyes," Edward muttered.

"**So, Miss Swan, how are you feeling?" Carlisle asked. He had a wonderfully soothing bedside manner that put most patients at ease within moments. I couldn't tell how it affected Bella.**

"**I'm fine," she said quietly.**

**Carlisle clipped her X-rays to the lightboard by the bed. "Your X-rays look good. Does your head hurt? Edward said you hit it pretty hard."**

**She sighed, and said, "I'm fine," again, but this time impatience leaked into her voice. Then she glowered once in my direction.**

**Carlisle stepped closer to her and ran his fingers gently over her scalp until he found the bump under her hair.**

**I was caught off guard by the wave of emotion that crashed over me."**

Alice, Rosalie and Esme exchanged wide-eyed looks at this.

_Sooooo cuuuuuteeeeee, _Alice bounced in her seat.

**"I had seen Carlisle work with humans a thousand times. Years ago, I had even assisted him informally—though only in situations where blood was not involved. So it wasn't a new thing to me, to watch him interact with the girl as if he were as human as she was. I'd envied his control many times, but that was not the same as this emotion. I envied him more than his control. I ached for the difference between Carlisle and me— that he could touch her so gently, without fear, knowing he would never harm her…"**

"Amazing," Esme breathed.

"It's absolutely the cutest thing in the world, isn't it?" Alice agreed, beaming at Edward.

"What's going on?" Edward wondered, not sure if he wanted to know.

"Ugh, I really, really wish we could tell you, Edward. I really do. But I just can't – you still need to wait," Alice sighed, very upset that she had to be happy in silence.

**"She winced, and I twitched in my seat. I had to concentrate for a moment to keep my relaxed posture."**

"What were you going to do, beat Carlisle up for 'hurting' Bella?" Jasper laughed, seeming to catch an edge of what was going on from the girls' emotions.

"**Tender?" Carlisle asked.**

**Her chin jerked up a fraction. "Not really," she said.**

**Another small piece of her character fell into place: she was brave. She didn't like to show weakness. Possibly the most vulnerable creature I'd ever seen, and she didn't want to seem weak."**

"That's adorable," Alice said. "_She's _adorable."

"What _don't_ you think is adorable?" Edward rolled his eyes. "Don't answer that, though."

**"A chuckle slid through my lips.**

**She shot another glare at me.**

"**Well," Carlisle said. "Your father is in the waiting room—you can go home with him now. But come back if you feel dizzy or have trouble with your eyesight at all."**

**Her father was here? I swept through the thoughts in the crowded waiting room, but I couldn't pick his subtle mental voice out of the group before she was speaking again, her face anxious."**

"I really need to go and listen to him," Edward was thoughtful.

"**Can't I go back to school?"**

"**Maybe you should take it easy today," Carlisle suggested.**

**Her eyes flickered back to me. "Does ****_he _****get to go to school?"**

**Act normal, smooth things over…ignore the way it feels when she looks me in the eye…"**

"AHHH!" Alice screamed out loud. "This is torture!"

Edward stared at her wide-eyed, amused but concerned.

"**Someone has to spread the good news that we survived," I said.**

"**Actually," Carlisle corrected, "most of the school seems to be in the waiting room."**

**I anticipated her reaction this time—her aversion to attention. She didn't disappoint.**

"**Oh no," she moaned, and she put her hands over her face.**

**I liked that I'd finally guessed right. I was beginning to understand her…"**

"I really, really doubt that you are," Emmett chuckled. "You could talk to that girl for a thousand years and never learn everything about her."

**"Do you want to stay?" Carlisle asked.**

"**No, no!" she said quickly, swinging her legs over the side of the mattress and sliding down till her feet were on the floor. She stumbled forward, off-balance, into Carlisle's arms. He caught and steadied her.**

**Again, the envy flooded through me."**

"Aha!" Jasper laughed. "You admit you're envious!"

"I'm pretty sure I've already made that clear," Edward muttered.

**"I'm fine," she said before he could comment, faint pink in her cheeks.**

**Of course, that wouldn't bother Carlisle. He made sure she was balanced, and then dropped his hands.**

"**Take some Tylenol for the pain," he instructed.**

"**It doesn't hurt that bad."**

**Carlisle smiled as he signed her chart. "It sounds like you were extremely lucky."**

**She turned her face slightly, to stare at me with hard eyes. "Lucky Edward happened to be standing next to me."**

"**Oh, well, yes," Carlisle agreed quickly, hearing the same thing in her voice that I heard." **

"You're a horrible liar, Carlisle," Rosalie shook her head.

**"She hadn't written her suspicions off as imagination. Not yet.**

**_All yours_****, Carlisle thought. ****_Handle it as you think best."_**

"And then you just hand her off to Edward like you didn't just possibly screw his entire plan up," she muttered.

"**Thanks so much," I whispered, quick and quiet. Neither human heard me.**

**Carlisle's lips turned up a tiny bit at my sarcasm as he turned to Tyler. "I'm afraid that ****_you'll _****have to stay with us just a little bit longer," he said as he began examining the slashes left by the shattered windshield.**

**Well, I'd made the mess, so it was only fair that I had to deal with it.**

**Bella walked deliberately toward me, not stopping until she was uncomfortably close." **

"Bella's insane," Emmett laughed. "Approach the creepy vampire, that's a good plan."

"She doesn't know we're vampires," Edward reminded him. _If she did, she'd run so fast to get away from us all the minute she saw us…_

**"I remembered how I had hoped, before all the mayhem, that she would approach me… This was like a mockery of that wish.**

"**Can I talk to you for a minute?" she hissed at me.**

**Her warm breath brushed my face and I had to stagger back a step. Her appeal had not abated one bit. Every time she was near me, it triggered all my worst, most urgent instincts. Venom flowed in my mouth and my body yearned to strike—to wrench her into my arms and crush her throat to my teeth."**

"Yum," Emmett said quietly, very sarcastic.

"Emmett, shut up," Edward sighed.

**"My mind was stronger than my body, but only just."**

"I'm never like that. For me, body always wins," Emmett winked at Rosalie.

"Ugh! Thoughts, Emmett! Control your thoughts!" Edward pulled on his hair in disgust.

"**Your father is waiting for you," I reminded her, my jaw clenched tight.**

**She glanced toward Carlisle and Tyler. Tyler was paying us no attention at all, but Carlisle was monitoring my every breath.**

**_Carefully, Edward._**

"**I'd like to speak to you alone, if you don't mind," she insisted in a low voice.**

**I wanted to tell her that I did mind very much, but I knew I would have to do this eventually. I may as well get on with it."**

"Bella owns you," Emmett realised. "You just don't know it yet."

_I wonder how much of that he realises is true…_Alice mused, before shutting Edward out.

Looking toward Alice once, Edward replied, "She does not, Emmett. I'm just reluctant to be mean to her."

**"I was full of so many conflicting emotions as I stalked out of the room, listening to her stumbling footsteps behind me, trying to keep up.**

**I had a show to put on now. I knew the role I would play—I had the character down: I would be the villain. I would lie and ridicule and be cruel.**

**It went against all my better impulses—the human impulses that I'd clung to through all these years. I'd never wanted to deserve trust more than in this moment, when I had to destroy all possibility of it."**

_Edward wants Bella to trust him,_ Esme sighed happily. _This is perfect._

**"It made it worse to know that this would be the last memory she would have of me. This was my farewell scene.**

**I turned on her.**

"**What do you want?" I asked coldly.**

**She cringed back slightly from my hostility. Her eyes turned bewildered, the expression that had haunted me…"**

"There's no way you're leaving now," Jasper noted. "You'll just remember how you couldn't get that same expression out of your head, and you'll not be able to go."

**"You owe me an explanation," she said in a small voice; her ivory face blanched.**

**It was very hard to keep my voice harsh. "I saved your life—I don't owe you anything."**

**She flinched—it burned like acid to watch my words hurt her."**

"I'm glad you're still you under all that hate," Esme muttered, upset.

**"You promised," she whispered.**

**"Bella, you hit your head, you don't know what you're talking about."**

**Her chin came up then. "There's nothing wrong with my head."**

**She was angry now, and that made it easier for me. I met her glare, making my face more unfriendly.**

**"What do you want from me, Bella?"**

**"I want to know the truth. I want to know why I'm lying for you."**

"Why can't we just tell her?" Emmett was upset now. "Bella's too cool to just leave her hanging like this."

"Because, Emmett, that would be _bad_," Rosalie repeated herself.

**"What she wanted was only fair—it frustrated me to have to deny her."**

"Edward agrees with me," Emmett muttered.

**"What do you ****_think _****happened?" I nearly growled at her.**

**Her words poured out in a torrent. "All I know is that you weren't anywhere near me—Tyler didn't see you, either, so don't tell me I hit my head too hard. That van was going to crush us both—and it didn't, and your hands left dents in the side of it—and you left a dent in the other car, and you're not hurt at all—and the van should have smashed my legs, but you were holding it up…"**

"She saw everything," Edward said quietly. Everybody else looked stunned as well.

**"Suddenly, she clenched her teeth together and her eyes were glistening with unshed tears.**

**I stared at her, my expression derisive, though what I really felt was awe; she had seen everything."**

"It's truly remarkable, isn't it?" Carlisle said.

"It's not though. Bella saw _everything_. She will know now that he's not normal. Although it is surprising that she hasn't said anything to anyone at all, knowing what she knows…" Rosalie trailed off, thinking about this.

**"You think I lifted a van off you?" I asked sarcastically.**

**She answered with one stiff nod."**

"You're right, Bella, you're right!" Emmett yelled at the book. "Don't listen to Eddiekins, he doesn't know what he's talking about!"

**"My voice grew more mocking. "Nobody will believe that, you know."**

**She made an effort to control her anger. When she answered me, she spoke each word with slow deliberation. "I'm not going to tell anybody."**

"We knew it!" Alice cheered.

"Bella's just too cool," Emmett agreed. "I want to meet her!"

"So do I!" Alice frowned unhappily. "We have to wait _four weeks,_ Em!"

"We could go to Phoenix and watch her at night…except that would be totally creepy," Emmett shuddered. "Forget I ever said that."

**"She meant it—I could see that in her eyes. Even furious and betrayed, she would keep my secret.**

**_Why?"_**

"She's too awesome!" Alice shouted at the book.

**"The shock of it ruined my carefully designed expression for half a second, and then I pulled myself together.**

**"Then why does it matter?" I asked, working to keep my voice severe.**

**"It matters to me," she said intensely. "I don't like to lie—so there'd better be a good reason why I'm doing it."**

"_Bella_," Esme stated, smiling, as if this communicated all she wanted to say. _She is indeed amazing, Edward._

"Whatever you say, Mom," Edward muttered under his breath.

**"She was asking me to trust her. Just as I wanted her to trust me. But this was a line I could not cross.**

**My voice stayed callous. "Can't you just thank me and get it over with?"**

"**Thank you," she said, and then she fumed silently, waiting.**

"**You're not going to let it go, are you?"**

"**No."**

**"In that case…" I couldn't tell her the truth if I wanted to…and I ****_didn't _****want to."**

"Hey Bella, Edward's a vampire. Dun dun duuuuun, so let's hang out now?" Emmett said.

"She's not going to say, _hell yeah!_, and just join you," Jasper chuckled.

**"I'd rather she made up her own story than know what I was, because nothing could be worse than the truth—I was a living nightmare, straight from the pages of a horror novel."**

"WE'RE VAMPIRES!" Emmett screamed, hoping Bella would somehow hear him. The Cullens stared at him in concern.

**"I hope you enjoy disappointment."**

**We scowled at each other. It was odd how endearing her anger was. Like a furious kitten, soft and harmless, and so unaware of her own vulnerability."**

"Awww!" Alice clapped. "She sounds so cute! Ugh. I want to _meet_ her."

**"She flushed pink and ground her teeth together again. "Why did you even bother?"**

**Her question wasn't one that I was expecting or prepared to answer. I lost my hold on the role I was playing. I felt the mask slip from my face, and I told her—this one time—the truth."**

_Not her! _Alice and Rosalie thought at the same time, slightly teasing him.

"**I don't know."**

**I memorized her face one last time—it was still set in lines of anger, the blood not yet faded from her cheeks—and then I turned and walked away from her."**

"That's the end of the chapter," Rosalie announced. "Who's going to read next?"

"I will," Esme smiled at her, taking the book from her hands.

"Edward's not going to be gone forever, right?" Alice wondered, worried.

"I seriously doubt whether he's left, Alice," Jasper assured her. "He's too interested – for some reason – in her."

"I wish I knew the reason," Edward agreed. "I'm behaving so strangely lately."

"Hopefully this means good things for my knowledge," Alice rubbed her hands together.

"And Rosalie's and Esme's," Rose added, smirking at Edward. "I really hope you find out soon so we can decide whether we're still leaving or not."

"Which we really, really won't be," Alice winked at her. "There's no way Edward will leave after that."

"Okay, well he can decide then, can't he?" Rosalie rolled her eyes.

**A/N: There you go! Please leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll be back as soon as I can!**

**I left a couple of references in there, like the ****_'a thousand years' _****one that I thought was super sneaky but also not super sneaky. I love that song. See you soon! :)**

_**I have died every day waaaaiiiittttiiiingggg for you... ;)**_


	4. Chapter 4: Visions

**A/N: Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeey guys! One more chapter and then we'll _finally _get to the part where Edward falls in love with Bella :D (Although we do find out that he will in this chapter, but it's just not the same, you know?)**

**Thanks for all of your reviews, though! Reading them always puts a smile on my face, and I'm glad to know that you all think this is really funny. I try not to make it too funny, but Emmett and I are a lot alike, so something that I find funny I'll always make him find funny as well. Hehehe. Enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Midnight Sun, nor any of the characters in it.**

Chapter Four: Visions

Esme quickly turned the page and began reading. **"Visions," **she said.

"Definitely something to do with me," Alice beamed. "But that doesn't help us at all, because I literally could have seen anything under the sun."

"We'll find out, don't worry," Edward laughed at her upset expression. "Keeping secrets from you is difficult."

Alice was already scanning the future to see if she could see what it could be.

_What? WHAT? NO WAY! _Alice thought, super excited, before snapping out of her vision and shutting her thoughts out from Edward. She had a grin attached to her face, and it looked like it might never come off.

"Rosalie? Esme?" While Edward wasn't looking, she gestured to the book in Esme's hand and mouthed, _this chapter!_

They both gasped, while Jasper, Emmett and Carlisle were very confused. Esme quickly began the chapter.

**"I went back to school. This was the right thing to do, the most inconspicuous way to behave."**

"No time jump this time," Jasper noted.

**"By the end of the day, almost all the other students had returned to class, too. Just Tyler and Bella and a few others—who were probably using the accident as a chance to ditch—remained absent.**

**It shouldn't be so hard for me to do the right thing. But, all afternoon, I was gritting my teeth against the urge that had me yearning to ditch, too—in order to go find the girl again."**

Esme and Alice beamed.

_Why am I being like this? _Edward was still so very confused.

**"Like a stalker. An obsessed stalker. An obsessed, vampire stalker."**

Everybody laughed at this.

"You really are acting like one, though," Emmett chuckled. "It's a wonder Bella doesn't realise how much your life revolves around her now."

**"School today was—somehow, impossibly—even more boring than it had seemed just a week ago. Coma-like. It was as if the colour had drained from the bricks, the trees, the sky, the faces around me… I stared at the cracks in the walls."**

"I bet I know whyyyyy," Rosalie sang, grinning at Edward.

"I wish you'd enlighten me," Edward muttered.

"Too bad, it's a secret," she winked, and smiled at Alice and Esme.

"**There was another right thing I should be doing…that I was not. Of course, it was also a wrong thing. It all depended on the perspective from which you viewed it."**

"What could that be? Either you're annoyed at yourself that you didn't leave, or you're not trying to cover up what happened, or you're not looking for any other eye-witnesses, right?" Jasper ticked off what he thought might be the cause of this.

"It could be all three of those things, Jasper," Edward said. "I actually wouldn't be surprised if it was."

**"From the perspective of a Cullen—not just a vampire, but a ****_Cullen_****, someone who belonged to a family, such a rare state in our world—the right thing to do would have gone something like this:**

**"_I'm surprised to see you in class, Edward. I heard you were involved in that awful accident this morning."_**

**"_Yes, I was, Mr. Banner, but I was the lucky one." A friendly smile. "I didn't get hurt at all… I wish I could say the same for Tyler and Bella."_**

**"_How are they?"_**

**"_I think Tyler is fine…just some superficial scrapes from the windshield glass. I'm not sure about Bella, though." A worried frown. "She might have a concussion. I heard she was pretty incoherent for a while—seeing things even. I know the doctors were worried…"_**

"That doesn't sound like you at all," Emmett scoffed. "There's no way the teacher would believe that's how you really are."

"Gee, thanks Em," Edward smirked at him.

**"That's how it should have gone. That's what I owed my family."**

"Well, you're not wrong," Rosalie sighed. "That's how it should have happened."

**"I'm surprised to see you in class, Edward. I heard you were involved in that awful accident this morning."**

**"I wasn't hurt." No smile."**

"You never smile though and if you did in this instance Mr. Banner might think you're crazy. Who smiles when they say something like that?" Emmett grinned.

**"Mr. Banner shifted his weight from foot to foot, uncomfortable.**

**"Do you have any idea how Tyler Crowley and Bella Swan are? I heard there were some injuries…"**

**I shrugged. "I wouldn't know."**

**Mr. Banner cleared his throat. "Er, right…" he said, my cold stare making his voice sound a bit strained.**

**He walked quickly back to the front of classroom and began his lecture.**

**It was the wrong thing to do. Unless you looked at it from a more obscure point of view.**

**It just seemed so…so ****_unchivalrous _****to slander the girl behind her back, especially when she was proving more trustworthy than I could have dreamed." **

"I have to give Bella that," Edward conceded. "She _is_ being ridiculously trustworthy."

"Maybe she likes you?" Jasper wondered.

_Uuuuuuugggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh, _Alice thought at this. Edward wondered why she could sound so aggravated at Jasper's ridiculous question.

"I _really _doubt that's why," Edward replied simply.

_So frustrating! _Alice thought unhappily.

**"She hadn't said anything to betray me, despite having good reason to do so. Would I betray her when she had done nothing but keep my secret?**

**I had a nearly identical conversation with Mrs. Goff—just in Spanish rather than in English—and Emmett gave me a long look."**

"Judging you silently," Emmett laughed.

**_"I hope you have a good explanation for what happened today. Rose is on the warpath."_**

"Of course I am," Rosalie grinned at this.

**"I rolled my eyes without looking at him.**

**I actually had come up with a perfectly sound explanation. Just suppose I ****_hadn't _****done anything to stop the van from crushing the girl… I recoiled from that thought." **

_I bet I know why, _Rosalie thought smugly. Alice saw her smug expression and glared warningly at her.

**"But if she ****_had _****been hit, if she'd been mangled and bleeding, the red fluid spilling, wasting on the blacktop, the scent of the fresh blood pulsing through the air …**

**I shuddered again, but not just in horror. Part of me shivered in desire. No, I would not have been able to watch her bleed without exposing us all in a much more flagrant and shocking way."**

"I suppose it's a good thing you saved her then," Jasper mused. "Well, not good, but it's certainly better than drinking her blood."

**"It was a perfectly sound excuse…but I wouldn't use it. It was too shameful."**

"But that would be the one that would bring Rose and Jazz over to your side," Alice complained. "Now we'll have to fight. I hate it when we fight."

"We all do," Esme assured her.

"Sometimes it's necessary," Rosalie muttered.

"And I hadn't thought of it until long after the fact, regardless.

**_Look out for Jasper, _****Emmett went on, oblivious to my reverie_. He's not as angry…but he's more resolved."_**

"Ah," Jasper nodded. "Of course I'm on the same page as I am now."

"What page is that?" Edward turned to look at him, his eyes tightening as he tried to read his thoughts.

Jasper shrugged. "You'll probably see momentarily, Edward."

"**I saw what he meant, and for a moment the room swam around me. My rage was so all-consuming that a red haze clouded my vision. I thought I would choke on it."**

"_Why _do I get so...so different now?" Edward asked in confusion. "I don't _understand."_

"You always get angry," Rosalie smirked.

"No, something's telling me I'm angry because Jasper wants to do something to hurt Bella," Edward frowned, his eyebrows drawing together. "I wish I knew why."

_As do I,_ Alice sighed.

**_"SHEESH, EDWARD! GET A GRIP! _****Emmett shouted at me in his head. His hand came down on my shoulder, holding me in my seat before I could jump to my feet."**

"What were you going to go and do?" Rosalie wondered.

"Probably go and find Jasper," Edward shook his head.

**"He rarely used his full strength—there was rarely a need, for he was so much stronger than any vampire any of us had ever encountered—but he used it now. He gripped my arm, rather than pushing me down. If he'd been pushing, the chair under me would have collapsed.**

**_EASY! _****He ordered."**

"Listen to Emmett," Emmett nodded, amused.

**"I tried to calm myself, but it was hard. The rage burned in my head.**

**_Jasper's not going to do anything until we all talk. I just thought you should know the direction he's headed."_**

"What do you want to do?" Edward said calmly.

Jasper sighed. "Bella's become too much of a problem, Edward. If she does come here and you don't kill her on her first day, then…"

Edward glared at him threateningly, and a growl ripped out of his throat. "If you even _think _of touching her, Jasper, I swear to God…"

Esme and Alice looked at each other out of the corners of their eyes, surprised at this reaction.

"Woah, Edward, calm down!" Emmett said, looking at him in shock.

Edward clenched his fists, willing himself to calm down, probably with some help from Jasper.

"What _was _that?" Rosalie demanded, thinking she might know the answer.

Edward _looked _shocked, but he was still glaring at Jasper. "You can't touch her."

"Edward, just calm down. I won't let Jazz hurt her," Alice told him in her self-assured tone, very calm.

Edward sighed, believing her, and raised his hands to face, rubbing them over it in his frustration. "I'm sorry, Jasper. I don't know why that just happened."

"It's okay," Jasper frowned, looking at him in concern. He sent another wave of calm emotions over to him, and Edward relaxed even more.

**"It still doesn't change the fact that you aren't going to hurt her," Edward said calmly. "You'll have to get through me if you try."**

Esme and Carlisle exchanged a worried look, and she kept reading.

**"I concentrated on relaxing, and I felt Emmett's hand loosen.**

**_Try not to make _****more ****_of a spectacle of yourself. You're in enough trouble as it is._**

**I took a deep breath and Emmett released me.**

**I searched around the room routinely, but our confrontation had been so short and silent that only a few people sitting behind Emmett had even noticed. None of them knew what to make of it, and they shrugged it off. The Cullens were freaks—everyone knew that already.**

**_Damn, kid, you're a mess, _****Emmett added, sympathy in his tone."**

_I'm not wrong, _Emmett thought, laughing slightly.

**"Bite me," I muttered under my breath, and I heard his low chuckle.**

The Cullens all cracked a grin at this.

**"Emmett didn't hold grudges, and I probably ought to be more grateful for his easy going nature. But I could see that Jasper's intentions made sense to Emmett, that he was considering how it might be the best course of action."**

Edward looked at Emmett now, raising his eyebrows in question.

Emmett shrugged. "I'm not thinking like that _now, _Edward. Knowing your thoughts is a lot better to make judgements than trying to guess at them from the sidelines."

"So you're not with Jasper right now?"

"No." He said, looking at Jasper apologetically. "Sorry, Jasper. Bella's…well, she's too important, I think. If she dies, it won't solve anything – it'll probably only make Edward even more perpetually angry than he is right now."

**"The rage simmered, barely under control. Yes, Emmett was stronger than I was, but he'd yet to beat me in a wrestling match.**

**He claimed that this was because I cheated," **

"Which is _true,_" Emmett whined.

Edward rolled his eyes.

**"But hearing thoughts was just as much a part of who I was as his immense strength was a part of him. We were evenly matched in a fight."**

Edward smirked at this.

**"A fight? Was that where this was headed? Was I going to fight with my ****_family _****over a human I barely knew?"**

Esme sighed, and Carlisle rubbed her arm soothingly.

**"I thought about that for a moment, thought about the fragile feel of the girl's body in my arms in juxtaposition with Jasper, Rose, and Emmett—supernaturally strong and fast, killing machines by nature…"**

"You're going to do it, aren't you," Rosalie murmured. "You think Bella needs to be protected from us."

Edward had come to this conclusion also. "Yes, Rose. I think that's right."

**"Yes, I would fight for her. Against my family. I shuddered."**

Esme sighed again, not happy at the direction this was going.

**"But it wasn't fair to leave her undefended when I was the one who'd put her in danger.**

**I couldn't win alone, though, not against the three of them, and I wondered who my allies would be."**

"Me," Alice said automatically. "I think you may have been right when you said I probably know something, Edward. I reckon that's true."

"And Esme and I," Carlisle added.

"Violence is never an option," Esme said, in the most typical maternal tone ever.

**"Carlisle, certainly. He would not fight anyone, but he would be wholly against Rose's and Jasper's decisions. That might be all I needed. I would see…**

**Esme, doubtful. She would not side ****_against _****me either, and she would hate to disagree with Carlisle, but she would be for any plan that kept her family intact. Her first priority would not be rightness, but me."**

Esme smiled, agreeing silently.

**"If Carlisle was the soul of our family, then Esme was the heart. He gave us a leader who deserved following; she made that following into an act of love."**

Everyone smiled at this, knowing it was true.

"**We all loved each other—even under the fury I felt toward Jasper and Rose right now, even planning to fight them to save the girl, I knew that I loved them."**

Edward rolled his eyes, but he knew this was true as well. He just couldn't think like that at that moment.

**"Alice…I had no idea. It would probably depend on what she saw coming. She would side with the winner, I imagined."**

"Of course!" Alice agreed, grinning. "Why would I ever side with the loser?"

"What if you believed in their cause?" Jasper wondered.

"Okay, maybe then," Alice admitted.

**"So, I would have to do this without help. I wasn't a match for them alone, but I wasn't going to let the girl be hurt because of me. That might mean evasive action…"**

"Like stealing her away?" Emmett joked.

**"My rage dulled a bit with the sudden, black humour. I could imagine how the girl would react to my kidnapping her."**

Emmett blinked, surprised that he said pretty much the same thing. "I'd love to see that," he chuckled.

**"Of course, I rarely guessed her reactions right—but what other reaction could she have besides terror?**

**I wasn't sure how to manage that, though—kidnapping her. I wouldn't be able to stand being close to her for very long. Perhaps I would just deliver her back to her mother."**

"I'd love to see _that,_" Alice laughed with Emmett. "Imagine the look on her face when some stranger brings Bella back to her."

**"Even that much would be fraught with danger. For her.**

**And also for me, I realized suddenly. If I were to kill her by accident… I wasn't certain exactly how much pain that would cause me, but I knew it would be multifaceted and intense."**

_It really, really will,_ Alice said, looking at Jasper and imagining how it would be if he were to die. Feeling her sadness, and wondering why she was feeling this way, he frowned, and leaned down and kissed her quickly. She smiled only slightly.

**"The time passed quickly while I mulled over all the complications ahead of me: the argument waiting for me at home, the conflict with my family, the lengths I might be forced to go to afterward…**

**Well, I couldn't complain that life ****_outside _****this school was monotonous any more.** **The girl had changed that much."**

"Bella's just too awesome," Emmett said for the hundredth time.

**"Emmett and I walked silently to the car when the bell rang. He was worrying about me, and worrying about Rosalie. He knew whose side he would have to choose in a quarrel, and it bothered him."**

Rosalie smirked smugly at this.

**"The others were waiting for us in the car, also silent. We were a very quiet group. Only I could hear the shouting."**

"What?" Emmett blinked.

"Your _thoughts, _Emmett," Edward said patiently.

"Ohhh! Of course, that makes sense," he nodded.

**_Idiot! Lunatic! Moron! Jackass! Selfish, irresponsible fool! _****Rosalie kept up a constant stream of insults at the top of her mental lungs." **

Rosalie laughed hardly at this. "I was literally thinking this before, when Edward threw himself across the lot to Bella!"

**"It made it hard to hear the others, but I ignored her as best I could.**

**Emmett was right about Jasper. He was sure of his course.**

**Alice was troubled, worrying about Jasper, flipping through images of the future.**

**No matter which direction Jasper came at the girl, Alice always saw me there, blocking him." **

"Hmm," Jasper said thoughtfully. "Interesting."

**"Interesting… neither Rosalie nor Emmett was with him in these visions." **

Edward and Rosalie both found this surprising.

"I wonder why I'm not there. Emmett not being there makes sense, but _me_?" Rosalie frowned.

**"So Jasper planned to work alone. That would even things up.**

**Jasper was the best, certainly the most experienced fighter among us. My one advantage lay in that I could hear his moves before he made them.**

**I had never fought more than playfully with Emmett or Jasper—just horsing around. I felt sick at the thought of really trying to hurt Jasper…"**

Esme looked worryingly at the two of them as she read this.

**"No, not that. Just to block him. That was all.**

**I concentrated on Alice, memorizing Jasper's different avenues of attack.**

**As I did that, her visions shifted, moving further and further away from the Swan's house. I was cutting him off earlier…**

**_Stop that, Edward! It can't happen this way. I won't let it._**

**I didn't answer her, I just kept watching.**

**She began searching farther ahead, into the misty, unsure realm of distant possibilities. Everything was shadowy and vague.**

**The entire way home, the charged silence did not lift. I parked in the big garage off the house; Carlisle's Mercedes was there, next to Emmett's big jeep, Rose's M3 and my Vanquish." **

"It's like you're listing off your sponsors," Emmett chuckled.

**"I was glad Carlisle was already home—this silence would end explosively, and I wanted him there when that happened."**

"Of course," Rosalie smirked. "I'm going to rant forever."

**"We went straight to the dining room."**

"Where a pile of human bodies from the previous night's meal had yet to be cleaned up. Oh, the bloodstains, whatever will we do about the bloodstains?" Emmett joked darkly, deeply amused.

**"The room was, of course, never used for its intended purpose." **

"Hey," Emmett pouted.

**"But it was furnished with a long oval mahogany table surrounded by chairs—we were scrupulous about having all the correct props in place." **

"Because humans are always over to look at them," Alice said sarcastically with a giggle.

**"Carlisle liked to use it as a conference room. In a group with such strong and disparate personalities, sometimes it was necessary to discuss things in a calm, seated manner.**

**I had a feeling that the setting was not going to help much today."**

"Nope," Jasper agreed.

**"Carlisle sat in his usual seat at the eastern head of the room. Esme was beside him—they held hands on top of the table."**

"It'll be fine, Esme," Carlisle soothed her, sensing her distress as she read.

**"Esme's eyes were on me, their golden depths full of concern.**

**_Stay. _****It was her only thought."**

"Picking favourites, are we?" Emmett pouted again.

"Hardly," Esme shook her head. "I don't want Edward to leave us again. To leave _me _again. That's not picking favourites. That's being concerned for your son."

**"I wished I could smile at the woman who was truly a mother to me, but I had no reassurances for her now.**

**I sat on Carlisle's other side. Esme reached around him to put her free hand on my shoulder. She had no idea of what was about to start; she was just worrying about me."**

"I'm sure that's not true. Carlisle will have warned me about _something,_" Esme disagreed. "Otherwise it'll come as a complete shock when everyone starts arguing."

**"Carlisle had a better sense of what was coming. His lips were pressed tightly together and his forehead was creased. The expression looked too old for his young face.**

**As everyone else sat, I could see the lines being drawn. **

**Rosalie sat directly across from Carlisle, on the other end of the long table. She glared at me, never looking away.**

**Emmett sat beside her, his face and thoughts both wry."**

"I wonder what I could possibly be finding ironic about this," Emmett chuckled.

**"Jasper hesitated, and then went to stand against the wall behind Rosalie. He was decided, regardless of the outcome of this discussion. My teeth locked together."**

Edward's eyes tightened, completely in sync with his book self.

**"Alice was the last to come in, and her eyes were focused on something far away— the future, still too indistinct for her to make use of it. Without seeming to think about it, she sat next to Esme." **

Alice grinned. "Well, we know what the outcome will be now, huh?"

"Edward said you didn't think about it," Rosalie disagreed. "You don't know you've won yet."

"Oh, Rose. I'm sure I do. I'll know _something,_" Alice thought back to her vision she had at the start of the chapter, and wondered if it would come to light now.

**"She rubbed her forehead as if she had a headache.** **Jasper twitched uneasily and considered joining her, but he kept his place."**

Alice pushed Jasper's shoulder playfully, completely fine with what would happen now. She knew that Jasper wouldn't hurt Bella after this conversation, but she didn't know what could be said to make him change his mind.

_Probably the thing Rose and Esme also know,_ Alice thought cryptically, aware that Edward was paying attention to her thoughts, waiting for her to slip up.

**"I took a deep breath. I had started this—I should speak first.**

**"I'm sorry," I said, looking first at Rose, then Jasper and then Emmett."**

"No need to look at me, bro," Emmett smirked, looking at Edward. "I'm not on a warpath here."

**"I didn't mean to put any of you at risk. It was thoughtless, and I take full responsibility for my hasty action."**

**Rosalie glared at me balefully. "What do you mean, 'take full responsibility'? Are you going to fix it?"**

**"Not the way you mean," I said, working to keep my voice even and quiet. "I'm willing to leave now, if that makes things better." ****_If I believe that the girl will be safe, if I believe that none of you will touch her_****, I amended in my head."**

"Keeping secrets sucks," Rosalie muttered.

"I agree. Tell me what you know," Edward grinned at her.

"Not a chance," she grinned back at him.

**"No," Esme murmured. "No, Edward."**

**I patted her hand. "It's just a few years."**

**"Esme's right, though," Emmett said. "You can't go anywhere now. That would be the ****_opposite _****of helpful. We have to know what people are thinking, now more than ever."**

"For once, you speak perfect sense!" Edward joked.

**"Alice will catch anything major," I disagreed."**

"That's true, but it won't be the same thing," Alice sighed.

"Don't you think it's funny how Alice can read Bella's future and Jasper could probably read Bella's emotions, but you can't read Bella's mind?" Emmett laughed. "Poor Edward."

"Yes, Em, that's hilarious," he rolled his eyes, upset at the unfairness.

**"Carlisle shook his head. "I think Emmett is right, Edward. The girl will be more likely to talk if you disappear. It's all of us leave, or none of us."**

"That could get her talking," Rosalie mused.

"Yeah, but we wouldn't be there anymore," Jasper said. "Her words wouldn't harm us."

**"She won't say anything," I insisted quickly. Rose was building up to the explosion, and I wanted this fact out there first."**

Rosalie signed resignedly at this. "I think you are right on that front." _I'm not going to win, am I…_

**"You don't know her mind," Carlisle reminded me.**

**"I know this much. Alice, back me up."**

**Alice stared up at me wearily. "I can't see what will happen if we just ignore this." She glanced at Rose and Jasper.**

**No, she couldn't see that future—not when Rosalie and Jasper were so decided against ignoring the incident.**

**Rosalie's palm smacked down on the table with a loud bang." **

"Here I go," Rosalie laughed.

**"We can't allow the human a chance to say anything. Carlisle, you ****_must _****see that. Even if we decided to all disappear, it's not safe to leave stories behind us. We live so differently from the rest of our kind—you know there are those who would love an excuse to point fingers. We have to be more careful than anyone else!"**

**"We've left rumours behind us before," I reminded her.**

**"Just rumours and suspicions, Edward. Not eyewitnesses and evidence!"**

"I hardly think everyone under the sun will believe Bella's story to the point that they start wondering if we're human or not," Alice scoffed.

"Yes," Edward agreed. "Also, she was the only eyewitness. Some rumours could turn up, sure, but not anything solid."

"And Bella isn't going to say anything," Edward smiled at him. "There's nothing to worry about."

"Bella is being very helpful," Carlisle agreed.

**"Evidence!" I scoffed.**

**But Jasper was nodding, his eyes hard.**

**"Rose—" Carlisle began.**

**"Let me finish, Carlisle. It doesn't have to be any big production. The girl hit her head today. So maybe that injury turns out to be more serious that it looked."**

Edward growled at this, surprising himself once again. _This is getting ridiculous,_ he thought in his utter confusion.

**"Rosalie shrugged. "Every mortal goes to sleep with the chance of never waking up.****The others would expect us to clean up after ourselves. Technically, that would make it Edward's job, but this is obviously beyond him. You know I'm capable of control. I would leave no evidence behind me."**

**"Yes, Rosalie, we all know how proficient an assassin you are," I snarled."**

"That was uncalled for!" Rosalie's eyes narrowed.

**"She hissed at me, furious.**

**"Edward, please," Carlisle said. Then he turned to Rosalie. "Rosalie, I looked the other way in Rochester because I felt that you were owed your justice. The men you killed had wronged you monstrously." **

Rosalie growled, furious that Carlisle would bring that up.

**"This is not the same situation. The Swan girl is an innocent."**

"He's right, Rose," Emmett said quietly. "Those men…" he began, and then stopped himself. "Bella is just a girl. She's not hurt you in any way."

"It's not personal, Carlisle," Rosalie said through her teeth. "It's to protect us all."

"It's totally personal if we go after her," Alice rolled her eyes. "_We're _doing it to stop _her._ And she hasn't even done anything wrong!"

"We're protecting ourselves," Jasper shrugged. "You would be safe, Alice. Isn't that a good thing?"

"Sure. But I don't need to be protected, Jazz. I don't care if you think I do – Bella won't hurt us. She _can't _hurt us. She's just a human girl with a silent mind and amazing-smelling blood."

"Not to mention she also is extremely observant," Edward added.

**"There was a brief moment of silence while Carlisle thought through his answer."**

"Like he's going to say yes," Rosalie muttered, sinking back against the couch in defeat. "I still don't like this."

"You don't need to," Alice smiled. "This scene isn't about you." _I can't wait for this._

**"When he nodded, Rosalie's eyes lit up. She should have known better.** **Even if I hadn't been able to read his thoughts, I could have anticipated his next words. Carlisle never compromised."**

"Of course not," Rosalie sighed.

**"I know you mean well, Rosalie, but… I'd like very much for our family to be ****_worth _****protecting. The occasional…accident or lapse in control is a regrettable part of who we are." It was very like him to include himself in the plural, though he had never had such a lapse himself. "To murder a blameless child in cold blood is another thing entirely." **

"Bella's not a _child_," Emmett scoffed.

"Edward called her a woman-child before," Jasper smirked.

**"I believe the risk she presents, whether she speaks her suspicions or not, is nothing to the greater risk. If we make exceptions to protect ourselves, we risk something much more important. We risk losing the essence of who we are."**

**I controlled my expression very carefully. It wouldn't do at all to grin. Or to applaud, as I wished I could."**

"I will, then," Edward grinned, clapping.

**"Rosalie scowled. "It's just being responsible."**

**"It's being callous," Carlisle corrected gently. "Every life is precious."**

"That they are," Esme smiled at him. "You're amazing, Carlisle."

"Thank you, dear," Carlisle smiled back.

**"Rosalie sighed heavily and her lower lip pouted out. Emmett patted her shoulder.**

**"It'll be fine, Rose," he encouraged in a low voice.**

**"The question," Carlisle continued, "is whether we should move on?"**

"Yay!" Rosalie exclaimed, sitting up straighter. "Finally a conversation I would like to hear!"

**"No," Rosalie moaned. "We just got settled. I don't want to start on my sophomore year in high school again!"**

"So many mixed signals," Edward shook his head. "You want Bella dead or you want us to leave but you really don't want us to leave because you want to get out of high school."

**"You could keep your present age, of course," Carlisle said.**

**"And have to move again that much sooner?" she countered.**

**Carlisle shrugged.**

**"I ****_like _****it here! There's so little sun, we get to be almost ****_normal_****."**

"Yeah, Rosie, you really are saying a lot of different things," Emmett agreed with Edward.

Rosalie shrugged. "I think I'm right either way."

**"Well, we certainly don't have to decide now. We can wait and see if it becomes necessary. Edward seems certain of the Swan girl's silence."**

"We all are," Esme murmured.

**"Rosalie snorted.**

**But I was no longer worried about Rose. I could see that she would go along with Carlisle's decision, not matter how infuriated she was with me. Their conversation had moved on to unimportant details.**

**Jasper remained unmoved."**

"Of course," Alice rolled her eyes, glaring slightly at Jasper. He held up his hands in submission.

**"I understood why. Before he and Alice had met, he'd lived in a combat zone, a relentless theatre of war. He knew the consequences of flouting the rules—he'd seen the grisly aftermath with his own eyes."**

"At least you get _why _I want to do that," Jasper muttered.

**"It said much that he had not tried to calm Rosalie down with his extra faculties, nor did he now try to rile her up. He was holding himself aloof from this discussion—above it."**

"So stubborn," Alice sighed. "You're just as bad as Edward."

"Now, Alice," Emmett interjected. "I wouldn't go that far. Edward's the king of being stubborn. Jasper's the…steward."

**"Jasper," I said.**

**He met my gaze, his face expressionless.**

**"She won't pay for my mistake. I won't allow that."**

**"She benefits from it, then? She should have died today, Edward. I would only set that right."**

Alice and Edward were annoyed by this statement, but both chose not to say anything about it.

**"I repeated myself, emphasizing each word. "I will not allow it."**

"Interesting choice of words," Carlisle observed, his eyebrows drawing together. Esme looked at him, curious to see if he could be clicking, finally.

**"His eyebrows shot up. He wasn't expecting this—he hadn't imagined that I would act to stop him."**

"_Really,_" Jasper's eyebrows rose in surprise. "It's pretty obvious from this perspective that he'd do anything to stop something happening to Bella."

**"He shook his head once. "I won't let Alice live in danger, even a slight danger. You don't feel about anyone the way I feel about her, Edward, ****and you haven't lived through what I've lived through, whether you've seen my memories or not. You don't understand."**

_No, he really doesn't. _Alice thought. _But he will, Jazz. He will._

**"I'm not disputing that, Jasper. But I'm telling you now, I won't allow you to hurt Isabella Swan."**

"Bella!" Emmett yelled. "I imagine if she were here she'd be correcting us every time one of us said 'Isabella' or 'the girl' or 'the Swan girl'. Why is it so hard to say Bella? It's only two syllables!"

"Calm down, Em," Edward chuckled. "We didn't write this, remember?"

**"We stared at each other—not glaring, but measuring the opposition. I felt him sample the mood around me, testing my determination.**

**"Jazz," Alice said, interrupting us."**

Alice held her breath now, and her eyes showed her obvious excitement and anticipation.

Jasper felt the change in her mood immediately and looked at her in confusion.

**"He held my gaze for a moment more, and then looked at her. "Don't bother telling me you can protect yourself, Alice. I already know that. I've still got to—"**

**"That's not what I'm going say," Alice interrupted. "I was going to ask you for a favour."**

Alice frowned now. "Damn," she sighed. "I thought…"

Rosalie and Esme looked at each other, before looking at her.

"Now?" Esme asked.

"Maybe," Alice admitted. "I thought it would be right then, but…"

"Stop being so cryptic!" Edward complained.

**"I saw what was on her mind, and my mouth fell open with an audible gasp."**

"OH!" Alice shouted, bouncing up and down in her seat. "IS THIS IT?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Rosalie was smiling hugely now in anticipation.

"**I stared at her, shocked, only vaguely aware that everyone besides Alice and Jasper was now eyeing me warily.**

**"I know you love me. Thanks." **

"Well now," Jasper smirked. "Thanks?"

Alice grinned at him. "Sorry, Jazzy."

**"But I would really appreciate it if you didn't try to kill Bella. First of all, Edward's serious and I don't want you two fighting. Secondly, she's my friend. At least, she's _going _****to be."**

Alice's breath came out in a huff. "That's _it?_"

"It's still huge!" Edward was shocked. "Alice…and Bella? Friends? How? Why?"

"Of course Bella would love me," Alice waved her hand. "But that's not what I thought was about to happen," she sounded quite put out.

**"It was clear as glass in her head: Alice, smiling, with her icy white arm around the girl's warm, fragile shoulders. And Bella was smiling, too, her arm around Alice's waist."**

"I wonder how much she knows?" Carlisle frowned.

"I hope she knows everything," Emmett grinned. "Having Bella around here would be awesome."

**"The vision was rock solid; only the timing of it was unsure."**

"Wow," Jasper was pretty surprised. "I can't imagine that."

_I can,_ Alice thought. _Especially if that _thing _happens._

**"But…Alice…" Jasper gasped. I couldn't manage to turn my head to see his expression. I couldn't tear myself away from the image in Alice's head in order to hear his."**

"Edward's having a crisis," Rosalie joked. "Bella's friends with his sister? The _horror!_"

**"I'm going to love her someday, Jazz. I'll be very put out with you if you don't let her be."**

"This is not at all what I thought was going to happen," Rosalie joked again.

"Me neither!" Alice giggled.

"It's still nice," Esme smiled. "If you're friends with Bella, she'll simply _have _to come and meet the rest of us."

**"I was still locked into Alice's thoughts. I saw the future shimmer as Jasper's resolve floundered in the face of her unexpected request."**

"Yay, Jazzy!" Alice beamed at him. "Finally, you come around! How are you doing right now?"

"I suppose there's no point in trying to kill her," Jasper conceded. "Not if it would hurt you."

"Oh, but you don't even know the best part yet," she said smugly. "If you think killing her would hurt only me…"

"**Ah," she sighed—his indecision had cleared a new future. "See? Bella's not going to say anything. There's nothing to worry about."**

"Well, we already knew that," Emmett said indifferently.

**"The way she said the girl's name…like they were already close confidants…"**

"We totally are. We're BFFs," Alice laughed.

**"Alice," I choked. "What…does this…?"**

Alice's eyes widened, and she held her breath once more, looking at Rosalie and Esme both.

Rosalie smiled secretly and bit her lip, trying to hold back her excitement.

**"I told you there was a change coming. I don't know, Edward."**

"A change," Esme repeated.

"A _huge _change, all right," Alice laughed, louder than she had before. "I think this is it."

Alice got up and sat with Rose, holding her hand tightly. Esme joined them quickly after, the three girls staring at the book in Esme's hand in complete excitement.

**"But she locked her jaw, and I could see that there was more."**

"THIS IS IT!" Alice screamed in excitement. "Brace yourself, Edward Cullen!"

**"****She was trying not to think about it; she was focusing very hard on Jasper suddenly, though he was too stunned to have progressed much in his decision making."**

"Oh, Alice," Jasper rolled his eyes. He could feel their excitement and was trying not to let it affect him, but he could feel the charge of it too much. He was also excited, but he had no idea what was about to happen.

**"She did this sometimes when she was trying to keep something from me."**

"I sure do," Alice beamed.

**"What, Alice? What are you hiding?"**

"Something life-changing," Alice said simply.

"This is so unbelievably annoying," Edward sighed. He could also feel the excitement in the air, thanks to Jasper, but like him he also had no idea what might happen.

**"I heard Emmett grumble. He always got frustrated when Alice and I had these kinds of conversations."**

"Yep," Emmett chuckled.

**"She shook her head, trying to not let me in."**

Alice giggled nervously. "Rose! I'm about to scream."

**"Is it about the girl?" I demanded. "Is it about Bella?"**

The three girls held their breath again, very expectant.

**"She had her teeth gritted in concentration, but when I spoke Bella's name, she slipped. Her slip only lasted the tiniest portion of a second, but that was long enough."**

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," Alice repeated over and over.

**"NO!" I shouted."**

"That's an odd reaction," Edward commented, frowning at Alice.

"**I heard my chair hit the floor, and only then realized I was on my feet."**

"But what did you see!?" Emmett complained.

**"Edward!" Carlisle was on his feet, too, his arm on my shoulder. I was barely aware of him."**

"I want to know as well," Carlisle chuckled.

"Of course you do, Carlisle," Emmett muttered. "We ALL do!"

**"It's solidifying," Alice whispered. "Every minute you're more decided. There're really only two ways left for her. It's one or the other, Edward."**

"One or the other?" Edward repeated. "What does _that _mean?"

"I think I know," Alice breathed. "Maybe. I'll have to wait until Esme reads it."

**"I could see what she saw…but I could not accept it."**

"What did you _see,_" Emmett was whining in complaint now. "I need to _know._"

**"No," I said again; there was no volume to my denial. My legs felt hollow, and I had to brace myself against the table."**

"Is it really _that _bad? I imagine I'll react badly, but knowing her from this perspective…" Rose trailed off, staring at Edward.

**"Will somebody ****_please _****let the rest of us in on the mystery?" Emmett complained."**

"Finally!" Emmett cheered. "Come on, please answer me!"

**"I have to leave," I whispered to Alice, ignoring him."**

"Ugh!" Emmett said, annoyed.

**"Edward, we've already been over that," Emmett said loudly. "That's the best way to start the girl talking. Besides, if you take off, we won't know for sure if she's talking or not. You have to stay and deal with this."**

"Yes, he really does," Carlisle agreed. "Edward can't leave now."

**"I don't see you going anywhere, Edward," Alice told me. "I don't know if you ****_can _****leave anymore."**

"How strange," Edward murmured. "I still have no idea what's going on, by the way. Why don't you think I'll be able to leave?"

"You'll see," Alice said smugly.

**"****_Think about it, _****she added silently. ****_Think about leaving._**

**I saw what she meant. Yes, the idea of never seeing the girl again was…painful."**

Edward's eyebrows shot up at this. "_Why?_" He said pathetically.

**"But it was also necessary. I couldn't sanction either future I'd apparently condemned her to."**

"BUT WHAT ARE THE FREAKING FUTURES!?" Emmett got up and started pacing in anticipation. "I MUST KNOW!"

"We _all _want to know," Jasper laughed at Emmett's frustration.

**_"I'm not entirely sure of Jasper, Edward, _Alice went on. _If you leave, if he thinks she's a danger to us…"_**

"Well, there's no way I'll be able to leave if you plant that in my head," Edward rolled his eyes. "I'm so weirdly protective over this girl."

Alice, Esme and Rosalie laughed at this, very, very loudly.

**"I don't hear that," I contradicted her, still only halfway aware of our audience.**

**Jasper was wavering. He would not do something that would hurt Alice."**

"Nope, you really won't," Alice winked at her love. He chuckled.

**_"Not right this moment. Will you risk her life, leave her undefended?"_**

"Undefended," Edward's eyes drew together. "Why am I her bodyguard? I'm almost considering joining Emmett right now. I _need _to know what's going on!"

**"Why are you doing this to me?" I groaned. My head fell into my hands."**

"Alice hasn't done _anything_," Rosalie laughed. "This is all you, Edward."

**"I was not Bella's protector. I could not be that." **

Edward nodded, agreeing with this statement.

**"Wasn't Alice's divided future enough proof of that?**

**_I love her, too. Or I will. It's not the same, but I want her around for that."_**

Jasper, Emmett, Carlisle and Edward all stared at the book with wide eyes now.

"Did you all just click?" Alice whispered, staring at them as they stared at the book in Esme's hands.

"I don't know," Emmett said quietly, and sank back onto the couch by Rosalie. "_Did _I?"

"What do you mean by, _'love her, too'_?" Edward said guardedly, still a bit confused. Something seemed to be dawning on him, but Alice couldn't tell from his expression how he was feeling.

**"Love her, ****_too?_****" I whispered, incredulous."**

Esme and Carlisle smiled widely at each other at this.

"There's no way," Jasper frowned. "Is there?"

"It would certainly explain a lot of things," Emmett mused. "Don't you think?"

"That it would…" Jasper suddenly smiled. "Wow."

**"She sighed. ****_You are _****so ****_blind, Edward." _**

"He really is," Alice was looking at Edward. He was looking at the book in shock.

**_"Can't you see where you're headed? Can't you see where you already are? It's more inevitable than the sun rising in the east. See what I see…"_**

"It's that inevitable?" Jasper said, amazed.

"Wonderful," Esme smiled, her eyes shining as she stared at Edward happily. "_Finally._"

"Bella's just too awesome," Emmett quoted himself, laughing very hardly now that he had this new information to understand what he was really saying.

**"I shook my head, horrified. "No." I tried to shut out the visions she revealed to me. "I don't have to follow that course. I'll leave. I ****_will _****change the future."**

"You can try," Alice laughed with Emmett.

**"You can try," she said, her voice sceptical."**

"Hey, I said the same thing," Alice found this even more hysterical.

**"Oh, ****_come on_****!" Emmett bellowed.**

**"Pay attention," Rose hissed at him. "Alice sees him falling for a ****_human! _****How classically Edward!" She made a gagging sound."**

"How on earth is that 'classically Edward'?" Jasper wondered. "He's not been in love before."

**"I scarcely heard her.**

**"What?" Emmett said, startled. Then his booming laugh echoed through the room. "Is that what's been going on?" He laughed again. "Tough break, Edward."**

"Hey," Emmett was offended by this. "Book Emmett, Bella's awesome."

**"I felt his hand on my shoulder, and I shook it off absently. I couldn't pay attention to him.**

"**_Fall _****for a human?" Esme repeated in a stunned voice. "For the girl he saved today? Fall in ****_love _****with her?"**

Esme got up and hugged Edward, now that it was confirmed. "This is amazing," she said into his shoulder. Edward was still frozen, shocked.

**"What do you see, Alice? Exactly," Jasper demanded.**

**She turned toward him; I continued to stare numbly at the side of her face."**

"Edward and book Edward are reacting in pretty much the same way," Rosalie noted, grinning at him.

**"It all depends on whether he is strong enough or not. Either he'll kill her himself" —she turned to meet my gaze again, glaring— "which would ****_really _****irritate me, Edward, not to mention what it would do to ****_you_****—"**

Each of the Cullens looked at their soulmate and shuddered, imagining a life without them.

**"She faced Jasper again, "or she'll be one of us someday."**

"Finally, we get both visions!" Emmett sighed. "That's a vision I could get behind. Both of them, actually. Edward being in love with Bella not only makes perfect sense, it's also going to make him a lot more enjoyable to be around."

"Thanks, Emmett," Edward rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, Emmett, Edward's having another crisis. How inconsiderate of you," Jasper grinned at Edward.

"Oh, my most sincere apologies," Emmett joked with Jasper.

**"Someone gasped; I didn't look to see who.**

**"That's not going to happen!" I was shouting again. "Either one!"**

"Oh my _god _but you are stubborn," Alice complained.

**"Alice didn't seem to hear me. "It all depends," she repeated. "He may be just strong enough not to kill her—but it will be close. It will take an amazing amount of control," she mused. "More even than Carlisle has. He may be ****_just _****strong enough… The only thing he's not strong enough to do is stay away from her. That's a lost cause."**

"That it is," Alice agreed with herself.

**"I couldn't find my voice. No one else seemed to be able to either. The room was still."**

"We should throw a party," Emmett suggested casually. "This is pretty monumental."

"He's not actually in love with her yet, Em," Rosalie reminded him.

"'Yet' being the key word," Alice beamed at Edward.

**"I stared at Alice, and everyone else stared at me. I could see my own horrified expression from five different viewpoints."**

"That would be pretty funny," Emmett laughed.

**"After a long moment, Carlisle sighed."**

"Well no need to be overenthusiastic, Carlisle," Jasper grinned at him.

**"Well, this…complicates things."**

"It sure does," Carlisle agreed with himself. "In a good way, though. I think."

**"I'll say," Emmett agreed. His voice was still close to laughter. Trust Emmett to find the joke in the destruction of my life."**

"Awww, Edward," Alice crooned jokingly.

"He's right though. His life has literally just been turned upside-down," Emmett said matter-of-factly.

**"I suppose the plans remain the same, though," Carlisle said thoughtfully. "We'll stay, and watch. Obviously, no one will…hurt the girl."**

Edward's eyes tightened involuntarily, surprising himself once more. And now that he knew the reason why, he was terrified.

**"I stiffened.**

**"No," Jasper said quietly. "I can agree to that. If Alice sees only two ways—"**

"She did say there could be a third way," Rosalie mused. "I wonder if he'd be able to do that."

"Knowing Edward," Emmett joked. "The king of stubborn, after all – he'll completely find a way to not listen to you, Alice."

Alice sighed. "Well, a human Bella is still awesome."

**"No!" My voice was not a shout or a growl or a cry of despair, but some combination of the three. "No!"**

"Yes! YES!" Emmett cheered with Alice, Jasper and Rosalie. Carlisle and Esme looked on, smiling.

"I can't believe Edward's going to fall in love," Esme sighed happily.

"And we know he will, because for one thing Bella's just too awesome," Emmett quoted himself once more, "and two; Alice said he's going to fall in love with her no matter what."

**"I had to leave, to be away from the noise of their thoughts—Rosalie's self-righteous disgust, Emmett's humour, Carlisle's never ending patience…**

**Worse: Alice's confidence. Jasper's confidence in that confidence."**

Alice and Jasper grinned at each other now.

**"Worst of all: Esme's…_joy_."**

"_All _of our joy, though!" Jasper said sincerely. "This is a pretty big thing."

**"I stalked out of the room."**

"What a typical thing to do," Alice muttered, smirking at him.

**"Esme touched my arm as I passed, but I didn't acknowledge the gesture."**

"Edward! How rude of you!" Emmett laughed.

**"I was running before I was out of the house. I cleared the river in one bound, and raced into the forest. The rain was back again, falling so heavily that I was drenched in a few moments. I liked the thick sheet of water—it made a wall between me and the rest of the world. It closed me in, let me be alone."**

"What an…emo thing to say," Rosalie's eyebrows rose in amusement.

**"I ran due east, over and through the mountains without breaking my straight course, until I could see the lights of Seattle on the other side of the sound. I stopped before I touched the borders of human civilization.**

**Shut in by the rain, all alone, I finally made myself look at what I had done—at the way I had mutilated the future."**

"You didn't mutilate it," Alice assured him. "It was simply inevitable."

**"First, the vision of Alice and the girl with their arms around each other—the trust and friendship was so obvious it shouted from the image." **

"I want to be her friend too," Emmett pouted.

**"Bella's wide chocolate eyes were not bewildered in this vision, but still full of secrets—in this moment, they seemed to be happy secrets. She did not flinch away from Alice's cold arm."**

"Ugh, I want to know how much she knows!" Rosalie muttered.

**"What did it mean? How much did she know? In that still-life moment from the future, what did she think of ****_me_****?"**

"Yet you still wonder how on earth you could fall in love with her," Alice giggled. "Oh, Edward."

**"Then the other image, so much the same, yet now coloured by horror. Alice and Bella, their arms still wrapped around each other in trusting friendship. But now there was no difference between those arms—both were white, smooth as marble, hard as steel. Bella's wide eyes were no longer chocolate. The irises were a shocking, vivid crimson. The secrets in them were unfathomable—acceptance or desolation? It was impossible to tell. Her face was cold and immortal."**

All of the Cullens sighed at this, not wanting that for her, for this girl that they'd all come to care about.

**"I shuddered. I could not suppress the questions, similar, but different: What did it mean—how had this come about? And what did she think of me now?"**

"I would imagine it was the same thing that happened with me and Emmett," Rosalie said quietly.

"Probably," Emmett agreed. "Edward will most likely just take Bella to Carlisle and ask him to change her."

**"I could answer that last one. If I forced her into this empty half-life through my weakness and selfishness, surely she would hate me."**

"Even Edward thinks so," Carlisle observed.

**"But there was one more horrifying image—worse than any image I'd ever held inside my head.**

**My own eyes, deep crimson with human blood, the eyes of the monster. Bella's broken body in my arms, ashy white, drained, lifeless. It was so concrete, so clear."**

"No," Edward shuddered, speaking for the first time in a while.

**"I couldn't stand to see this. Could not bear it. I tried to banish it from my mind, tried to see something else, anything else." **

Esme frowned, upset. "He won't be able to kill her. He won't."

"He might, though," Carlisle said quietly. "He might not mean to, but with her blood…"

"And when he falls in love with her," Rosalie began, and Edward noted that she said 'when' and not 'if', "he might let his guard down a little bit."

"I sincerely doubt it," Edward muttered darkly.

**"Tried to see again the expression on her living face that had obstructed my view for the last chapter of my existence. All to no avail.**

**Alice's bleak vision filled my head, and I writhed internally with the agony it caused." **

Everyone shuddered at this. Imagining the pain that might cause one half of a perfect couple was unbearable to think about.

**"Meanwhile, the monster in me was overflowing with glee, jubilant at the likelihood of his success. It sickened me."**

"There's no way," Alice assured herself. "We'll stop him if he tries to."

**"This could not be allowed. There had to be a way to circumvent the future. I would not let Alice's visions direct me. I could choose a different path. There was always a choice."**

"You are so stubborn it's kind of annoying," Emmett muttered.

**"There had to be."**

"Would falling in love with Bella really be that unfortunate for you, though?" Alice asked him honestly. "She's smart, she's beautiful, she's trustworthy, she's interesting, she's loyal…"

"Alice," Edward groaned, "stop."

"That's the end of the chapter," Esme said quietly.

"Wow," Rosalie summarised.

"Indeed," Jasper agreed. "Wow."

"This certainly changes things," Carlisle said, looking at Edward.

"I'll say," Emmett nodded. "What are you thinking, Edward?"

Edward blinked rapidly, trying to focus his muddled thoughts. "I don't…I mean I _can't_…"

"Believe it?" Rosalie suggested.

Edward looked at her, and shook his head. "I can believe it. But I don't _want _to believe it. I know I'm not in love with her…yet," he swallowed, "but I just don't know what to think."

Alice smiled and patted his hand. "It'll be fine, Edward."

"Will it? I don't want to damn Bella," he struggled to say her name nonchalantly, "to the life we live. I also don't want her to die. But falling in _love _with her?"

"It's inevitable," Alice whispered.

"I don't believe that," he said stubbornly. "I think I'll try and change the future."

"You can try," Alice repeated herself from earlier. "At any rate, Bella's going to be my friend – and I want that to happen. So you're not going to try and stop me from making that a reality," she wagged her finger at him accusingly.

Edward frowned. "I suppose I'll read the next chapter, Esme. But I'm still not in love with this idea."

"You don't have to be," Rosalie chuckled. "You'll probably fall without even realising it."

"Oh, I'll realise," Edward sighed, not wanting to admit that falling for Bella would probably be very effortless.

**A/N: Ugh. Second time writing this and I still struggle with Carlisle. If any of you have any tips on how to portray him, please tell me in a review. I really have no idea on how to incorporate him more in this and it bugs me immensely. **

**Also, Alice, Rosalie and Esme will _finally _not have all of those secret little conversations anymore. It was getting kind of annoying to have them keep what they knew a secret for so long, haha.**

**That being said, please leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll be back soon with the chapter we're all secretly (and not-so-secretly) waiting for ;)**


	5. Chapter 5: Invitations

**A/N: Hey everyone! You know what's about to happen, right? _Right?_ Hehehe you should! After all, it's the chapter we've all been waiting for ;) Sorry for the delay though (even though I've been updating this like a boss, lmao), I had this giant History essay to write which literally ended up being 18 paragraphs long. Why would you even force students to write that much? It's not fair! Also, I read The Fault In Our Stars and I'm an emotional wreck as I write this. _I do, Augustus. I do._ NO. NO NO NO NO NO NO**

**Back to this story though, thanks for all of your help on Carlisle guys – seriously. He's just not that…fun to write about. I mean I get it he's central to the Cullen family but I just have no fun writing him – especially when I compare him to the rest of the Cullens, who are all very easy to write for. Hopefully the tips will help though, so thank you :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Midnight Sun, nor any of the characters in it.**

Chapter Five: Invitations

Edward took the book from Esme and began reading. **"Invitations," **he began.

Nobody had quite recovered from the buzz of the previous chapter, so Jasper had to calm them all down so they could focus on what Edward was saying.

Once they were all calm, Alice asked, "Invitations? To what?"

"I can only think of two reasons why invitations would be needed," Rosalie grinned. "The girl's choice dance is coming up – and then later on in the year we have the prom."

"So this chapter is about the girl's choice dance?" Emmett nodded, seeming to accept this.

"Well, it could be. It's only a suggestion. Either that or Edward's received an invitation to party with the Volturi," Rosalie joked.

"Rosalie," Carlisle shook his head, amused. "The Volturi's way of partying would probably vary quite differently from your own."

"**High school. Purgatory no longer, it was now purely hell. Torment and fire…yes, I had both."**

"This is remarkably like the beginning of this book," Edward commented dryly.

"**I was doing everything correctly now. Every "i" dotted, every "t" crossed. No one could complain that I was shirking my responsibilities."**

"What about Bella?" Esme frowned, slightly upset that he wasn't immediately running to her.

"Oh, Edward's probably trying to change the future like he said," Alice rolled her eyes. _Like that will last, Edward Cullen. Enjoy it while you can._

"**To please Esme and protect the others, I stayed in Forks. I returned to my old schedule. I hunted no more than the rest of them."**

Edward, Jasper, Rosalie and Carlisle frowned at this.

"So, what does _that _mean?" Jasper asked, confused.

"I don't know," Edward replied honestly. "Maybe I'm just not talking to Bella at all, so there's no reason for me to breathe in biology?"

"That _is _the most likely explanation," Carlisle agreed.

"You are the most stubborn person in the entire world," Alice muttered dejectedly.

Edward laughed. "Did I put a kink in your master plan, Alice?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact. You'll be forcing me to watch your future twist and turn so rapidly it'll give me many a headache," she groaned. "Why can't you just accept that you're going to fall in love with Bella and move on with your life?"

Edward ignored this – naturally – and kept reading. **"Everyday, I attended high school and played human. Everyday, I listened carefully for anything new about the Cullens—there never was anything new. The girl did not speak one word of her suspicions. She just repeated the same story again and again—I'd been standing with her and then pulled her out of the way—till her eager listeners got bored and stopped looking for more details."**

Esme smiled at this. "Bella seems like such a nice person, Edward."

"I doubt that saying that will change his stubbornness," Alice grumbled. Edward cracked a grin.

"**There was no danger. My hasty action had hurt no one.**

**No one but myself.**

**I was determined to change the future. Not the easiest task to set for oneself, but there was no other choice that I could live with."**

Alice folded her arms across her chest and leant back into the couch. "I'm not going to like this chapter much, am I?"

"You don't have any secrets anymore either to keep you excited," Jasper said, amused. "You're just as clueless as the rest of us now."

"I hate it," she muttered, unhappy. Jasper wrapped an arm around her comfortingly, still amused.

"**Alice said that I would not be strong enough to stay away from the girl. I would prove her wrong."**

Alice rolled her eyes.

"**I'd thought the first day would be the hardest. By the end of it, I'd been **_**sure **_**that was the case. I'd been wrong, though."**

"Well of course," Emmett stated simply. "Imagine one of _us_ going an entire day of not even looking at our mate," he looked at Rosalie as he said this, "I couldn't even imagine it."

"It's impressive, I must say," Jasper agreed. "But I'm with Alice on this. You'll never last, Edward."

Edward muttered under his breath, irritated. "She is _not _my soulmate."

"**It had rankled, knowing that I would hurt the girl."**

"Oh yeah, she's _not _your soulmate, and you're _not _in love with her," Rosalie smirked.

"**I'd comforted myself with the fact that her pain would be nothing more than a pinprick—just a tiny sting of rejection— compared to mine."**

Rosalie just stared at Edward as he read this. _You are so unbelievably fucking stubborn, Edward Cullen. You read things like this, and _don't _change your mind!_

Edward rolled his eyes.

"**Bella was human, and she knew that I was something else, something wrong, something frightening. She would probably be more relieved than wounded when I turned my face away from her and pretended that she didn't exist."**

"Something's telling me that that will definitely not happen," Esme mused.

"Yeah, Bella's gonna be annoyed that he didn't tell the truth, but she's not going to try and cut him out of her life completely," Jasper agreed.

"Imagine someone doing that? A clean break, I mean? Why anyone would think that a clean break is a good idea baffles me completely," Emmett shuddered. "Like, 'bye, Rosie, I'm leaving forever and ever you'll never see me again'. It's ridiculous."

"What does that have to do with Bella?" Edward wondered, still struggling to say her name in a normal tone.

"I'm just saying, it sounds like you're going to cut her out of your life. It's either not going to work or you're going to become even more miserable than you have been this whole book," Emmett chuckled.

**"Hello, Edward," she'd greeted me, that first day back in biology. Her voice had been pleasant, friendly, one hundred and eighty degrees from the last time I'd spoken with her."**

"She wants you to forgive her, probably," Jasper observed, his ability to read emotions coming out in his voice.

Edward was quick to defend her. "Why should she want that? If anything, _I _should be the one trying to get her to forgive me. Bella's too…it's not her fault that I have to lie to protect her."

Rosalie and Alice exchanged a look. Yes, Edward _definitely _wasn't falling in love.

"**Why? What did the change mean? Had she forgotten? Decided she had imagined the whole episode? Could she possibly have forgiven me for not following through on my promise?****"**

"So many questions," Carlisle was amused.

"You ask just as many questions, Carlisle," Emmett grinned at him. Carlisle didn't disagree.

"Edward does ask a lot of questions about Bella, though," Esme agreed with her husband.

"I don't know what she's thinking, so of course I'm going to be asking many questions," Edward muttered.

"**The questions had burned like the thirst that attacked me every time I breathed."**

Edward's eyes widened considerably as he read this. "I _am _breathing!? How?"

"Amazing," Jasper and Carlisle breathed.

"Maybe being around her has…desensitised her scent a little bit?" Alice wondered.

"I doubt that's the case," Edward rolled his eyes; annoyed that she'd even suggest it. "But whatever the reason, I can _breathe _and not think of killing her. That's progress."

"What are you progressing towards?" Emmett smirked slyly at him. Edward sighed.

"**Just one moment to look in her eyes. Just to see if I could read the answers there…**

**No. I could not allow myself even that. Not if I was going to change the future."**

Alice shook her head. "I just don't even know why you bother. I always get my way."

"She's right, Edward. She really does," Emmett agreed, nodding.

"I know, but I don't want her to be right," Edward murmured.

"But like I said before – why would falling in love with Bella be such a bad thing? Seriously, Ed-"

"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO MURDER HER!" Edward interrupted Alice, shouting in his frustration. That shut everybody up, so Edward continued reading.

"**I'd moved my chin an inch in her direction without looking away from the front of the room. I'd nodded once, and then turned my face straight forward.**

**She did not speak to me again."**

"Awww," Emmett said, trying to lighten the mood as always.

"**That afternoon, as soon as school was finished, my role played, I ran to Seattle as I had the day before." **

"Ten bucks says that Edward does this every day from now on," Emmett declared.

"I'll take that bet," Alice said, smug. "There's no way Edward will be able to stay away from her for _ever._"

"**It seemed that I could handle the aching just slightly better when I was flying over the ground, turning everything around me into a green blur."**

"The aching, huh?" Rosalie smiled slightly, understanding what he meant.

"**This run became my daily habit."**

"I knew it," Emmett was the one now smug.

"Ah, ah, ah, Em – we don't know if he does this literally for the rest of his life," Alice wagged a finger at him. "Which, I know he won't. Do you want me to give you a ten now just to take it back from you later?"

"No," Emmett sighed.

"I didn't think so," she grinned.

**"****Did I love her? I did not think so. Not yet."**

Edward's eyebrows rose comically as he read this. "_What?"_ he demanded, looking around at each of the Cullens, expecting them to have the answer.

Alice shrugged. "I'm not going to say I told you so, but…"

Edward rolled his eyes. "I seem to have accepted the fact that it's inevitable, though," he said rather quietly, his eyebrows now pulling together in thought.

"I'm glad," Esme murmured, hiding her excitement and happiness. Carlisle reached over and took her hand, also deeply happy.

"**Alice's glimpses of that future had stuck with me, though, and I could see how easy it would be to fall into loving Bella." **

Edward shook his head, bewildered.

"**It would be exactly like falling: effortless. Not letting myself love her was the opposite of falling—it was pulling myself up a cliff-face, hand over hand, the task as gruelling as if I had no more than mortal strength."**

"I just-I don't really know what to make of this?" Edward asked, as if it were a question.

"Well, _I _do," Alice laughed. "Edward Cullen, tell me this: when you think of Bella, what does your mind – or better yet, your_ heart _– tell you?"

Edward decided to indulge her, not thinking he would find anything other than what his family felt about her. His mind, like expected, thought just like this. Either he was too stubborn to admit to himself that Bella was his soulmate, or she just wasn't. His heart, on the other hand, would have been thumping painfully at the thought of the human girl. Edward swallowed hard, but decided to keep this fact from his family.

"I feel just as you all do," Edward said quietly.

"Well, I love Bella, so…" Alice trailed off.

"You're not _in _love with her, Alice," Edward murmured. "And neither am I."

_Yet,_ Alice added silently, gesturing for him to continue reading.

"**More than a month passed, and every day it got harder. That made no sense to me—I kept waiting to get over it, to have it get easier." **

"I wonder if Edward's already in love with her and he just doesn't realise it yet," Carlisle said, thinking out loud again.

Jasper considered this. "It's plausible," he said. "I think his mind and his heart are very separate on that thought, though."

"I don't know if he's in _love _yet," Rosalie disagreed, "but for some reason the thought of leaving Bella is hurting him, so he definitely is close to. Maybe his body knows that Bella and he are soulmates."

Edward rolled his eyes yet again, still strong in his belief that Bella absolutely was not his soulmate.

"**This must be what Alice had meant when she'd predicted that I would not be able to stay away from the girl. She had seen the escalation of the pain. But I could handle pain."**

"For how long, though?" Alice mused. "And if the pain keeps escalating…"

"**I would not destroy Bella's future. If I was destined to love her, then wasn't avoiding her the very least I could do?"**

Esme sighed at this. "I suppose what you're doing makes sense, Edward."

"But you hate it," Emmett finished for her. "We all hate it. You probably hate it too, but well you're the king of stubbornness, remember?" he rolled his eyes, "you'll never admit that you do."

Edward grumbled under his breath. "I'm just being ridiculous. I know I don't believe what Alice said."

Alice was the one to roll her eyes now. Jasper cracked a grin at her annoyed expression.

"**Avoiding her was about the limit of what I could bear, though. I could pretend to ignore her, and never look her way. I could pretend that she was of no interest to me. But that was the extent, just pretence and not reality."**

"You miss her," Esme beamed at her son.

"Edward misses Bellaaaaa," Emmett sang out at the same time, chuckling.

"This is so strange," Jasper said. "That you're like…"

"In love?" Rosalie suggested. "Or, _falling _in love?"

"I am _not _falling in love," Edward said, but nobody listened (or cared).

"**I still hung on every breath she took, every word she said."**

Esme and Carlisle both turned and stared at each other, wide-eyed. Alice was silently screaming.

"**I lumped my torments into four categories.**

**The first two were familiar. Her scent and her silence."**

"That's not fair," Edward muttered, involuntarily defending Bella again. "It's not _her _fault she's like that."

"**Or, rather—to take the responsibility on myself where it belonged—my thirst and my curiosity."**

Edward nodded in approval.

_Nope. Not falling in love at all,_ Rosalie chuckled.

"**The thirst was the most primal of my torments. It was my habit now to simply not breathe at all in Biology." **

Carlisle nodded, accepting this. "That explains a lot."

"**Of course, there were always the exceptions—when I had to answer a question or something of the sort, and I would need my breath to speak. Each time I tasted the air around the girl, it was the same as the first day—fire and need and brutal violence desperate to break free." **

"Yet you're not even considering killing her," Alice said approvingly. "That's good."

"I bet I am, Alice," Edward sighed. "If Bella's blood is as amazing as it sounds, and I haven't fed…"

"Oh, you won't kill her," Alice waved this off, reassuring him. "You'll know, _somewhere _inside that stubborn head of yours, that killing Bella won't help you in any way."

"Yes," Edward agreed. "I'll know killing her would put us in danger."

Alice's mouth fell open. "That is _not_ what I meant! Good lord, Edward, you are literally the most annoying person in the entire world."

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean," Edward replied calmly, slightly teasing her. Jasper picked up on this and hid his smile. Edward was messing with her.

"**It was hard to cling even slightly to reason or restraint in those moments. And, just like that first day, the monster in me would roar, so close to the surface…"**

Edward tensed, but Alice just rolled her eyes.

"I'm with Alice on this, bro," Emmett commented. "Bella is too important to you now. You wouldn't be able to kill her."

"You don't know that," Edward disagreed, shaking his head. "And she's hardly _that _important. How many times do I have to say that!?"

"Probably for the rest of forever until you fall in love with her," Jasper chuckled. "Which _will _happen."

Edward ignored him and kept reading. **"The curiosity was the most constant of my torments. The question was never out of my mind: **_**What is she thinking **_**now**_**?"**_

"Invisible humans, take a drink," Emmett smirked.

"What?" Edward frowned.

"The humans' drinking game!" Emmett said, exasperated.

"Oh," Jasper blinked. "I didn't think you were being serious."

"I'm not, I'm _always _serious," Emmett said.

"That makes zero sense," Jasper laughed.

"**When I heard her quietly sigh. When she twisted a lock of hair absently around her finger. When she threw her books down with more force than usual. When she rushed to class late. When she tapped her foot impatiently against the floor."**

"Awwww!" Alice clapped.

"I'm only thinking that because I don't know what she's thinking," Edward quickly explained.

"Why so quick to defend yourself, Eddiekins?" Emmett teased. "Afraid your book self might really be falling in love with Bella?"

"Hardly," Edward muttered, averting his gaze.

"**Each movement caught in my peripheral vision was a maddening mystery. When she spoke to the other human students, I analysed her every word and tone. Was she speaking her thoughts, or what she thought she should say? It often sounded to me like she was trying to say what her audience expected, and this reminded me of my family and our daily life of illusion—we were better at it than she was."**

"Why would Bella act that way?" Esme asked, frowning.

"Perhaps she just doesn't…click with them," Rosalie suggested, shrugging.

"That's ridiculous," Emmett scoffed. "She's human, too."

"Emmett," Carlisle explained calmly. "Humans have different interests. She just might not find the same things interesting as the other humans do, but she doesn't want to hurt them."

"Oh," Emmett said, getting it. "I wonder if she'll find vampires easier to relate to."

Edward glared at him. "She's not going to be close enough to us for that to happen, Emmett."

"Whatever, Edward," Emmett's eyes had risen a slight fraction. _Chill out!_

"**Unless I wrong about that, just imagining things. Why would she have to play a role? She was one of them—a human teenager.**

**Mike Newton was the most surprising of my torments."**

Emmett and Jasper found this hilarious.

"I can't believe Edward has a _rival_," Jasper said, shaking from laughter.

"When we're at school on Monday I'm just going to be staring at Mike the whole time," Emmett grinned at Edward, laughing also.

"**Who would have ever dreamed that such a generic, boring mortal could be so infuriating?" **

"Ohhh, I understand what's happening," Rosalie commented, very smug.

"What, Rosie?" Emmett asked her.

"Edward's jealous of him," she grinned.

"There's no way," Edward replied, shocked.

Rosalie shrugged. "Keep reading and we'll find out."

"**To be fair, I should have felt some gratitude to the annoying boy; more than the others, he kept the girl talking. I learned so much about her through these conversations—I was still compiling my list—but, contrarily, Mike's assistance with this project only aggravated me more. I didn't want Mike to be the one that unlocked her secrets.** **I wanted to do that."**

"Then stop being so freaking stubborn and change that!" Alice exclaimed, throwing her hands up in utter exasperation.

"**It helped that he never noticed her small revelations, her little slips. He knew nothing about her. He'd created a Bella in his head that didn't exist—a girl just as generic as he was. He hadn't observed the unselfishness and bravery that set her apart from other humans, he didn't hear the abnormal maturity of her spoken thoughts." **

"Okay, Edward, seriously?" Emmett shook his head. "You say you don't think you're falling for Bella, but then you're saying and noticing all of these things?"

"Anyone could notice that she's like that," Edward defended himself.

"Not Mike Newton," Alice jumped in, smirking.

"**He didn't perceive that when she spoke of her mother, she sounded like a parent speaking of a child rather than the other way around—loving, indulgent, slightly amused, and fiercely protective."**

"Poor girl," Esme sighed. "She shouldn't have to be like that."

"It's not Bella's fault," Carlisle reminded her. "Her parents split up, remember? Children are forced to grow up when that happens."

"It doesn't mean I have to like it," Esme replied stubbornly.

"**He didn't hear the patience in her voice when she feigned interest in his rambling stories, and didn't guess at the kindness behind that patience."**

"Bella's awesome," Emmett declared. "Edward Cullen, you don't stand a _chance_. You'll totally be in love with her so very soon, I bet."

"**Through her conversations with Mike, I was able to add the most important quality to my list, the most revealing of them all, as simple as it was rare. Bella was **_**good**_**." **

"You and Bella, yin and yang," Jasper chuckled.

"You're not wrong," Rosalie smiled. "They are like two halves of a whole."

"Why?" Edward asked, his tone sharp, "because I am evil and she is not?"

"No, Edward," Esme soothed him.

"Yes, that's a part of it," Alice interrupted her. "But not all of it. Every part of your personality complements hers. It's fascinating to see – or, should I say – read."

"I must admit, you do make sense," Edward conceded, but upon seeing the knowing looks of his family, he quickly amended, "but that does not mean we are _'two halves of a whole' _as Rosalie says."

"Okay," Rosalie simply said, and gestured for him to keep reading. Edward couldn't not hear the smug tone in her thoughts, but he humoured her.

"**All the other things added up to that whole—kind and self-effacing and unselfish and loving and brave—she was good through and through."**

"We _know _that," Emmett muttered. "Get on with it, Eddie boy."

"Get on with what?" Edward wondered.

"I just want you to fall in love so we can progress with this story," Emmett explained, smirking at Edward's look of shock.

"**These helpful discoveries did not warm me to the boy, however. The possessive way he viewed Bella—as if she were an acquisition to be made—provoked me almost as much as his crude fantasies about her."**

"Awww, poor Edward!" Rosalie said sarcastically.

"No, Edward's right – it's not good for him to be thinking about Bella that way," Esme's eyes narrowed.

"I get that. Probably more than any of you ever could," Rosalie quietly said, biting her lip as she was drawn back into her darker memories.

"Rosalie," Edward said softly. "That won't happen to Bella. We'll make sure of it."

Rosalie blinked, coming back to the present. "I know, Edward," she sighed unhappily. "Even so, it brings back those memories, and…"

Emmett, understanding why she was upset now, wrapped an arm around her and pulled her to him. She leaned against him gratefully.

"**He was becoming more confident of her, too, as the time passed, for she seemed to prefer him over those he considered his rivals—Tyler Crowley, Eric Yorkie, and even, sporadically, myself. He would routinely sit on her side of our table before class began, chattering at her, encouraged by her smiles." **

"She'd just be being polite," Edward muttered.

"**Just polite smiles, I told myself."**

Emmett and Jasper exchanged amused looks.

"**All the same, I frequently amused myself by imagining backhanding him across the room and into the far wall… It probably wouldn't injure him fatally…"**

"Edward!" Esme scolded him.

"_Amazing_," Jasper laughed.

"I must say, I agree," Emmett chuckled. "Edward's got a rival that is torturing him so much that he is contemplating literally killing him."

"It's amazing," Jasper repeated, grinning at Edward's purposefully blank expression.

"**Mike didn't often think of me as a rival. After the accident, he'd worried that Bella and I would bond from the shared experience, but obviously the opposite had resulted. Back then, he had still been bothered that I'd singled Bella out over her peers for attention." **

"I imagine that Jessica is thinking exactly the same thing," Rosalie muttered.

"**But now I ignored her just as thoroughly as the others, and he grew complacent."**

"Surely somebody might find that strange? That Edward pulled Bella out of the way and then suddenly doesn't talk to–or look at–her anymore?" Alice frowned.

"You're right," Jasper agreed, "that nice girl, Angela, must have noticed? Even Jessica. She is shrewd, after all."

"Maybe they don't want to think about it," Edward muttered. "They react normally to us. So the fact that Bella doesn't hold my attention any longer must come as a slight relief to them."

Carlisle nodded. "It would explain why, certainly. But perhaps because Bella is not either, they must have simply accepted the fact that the two of them had a falling out of sorts."

"**What was she thinking now? Did she welcome his attention?"**

"Another drink," Emmett smirked, taking an imaginary swig.

"**And, finally, the last of my torments, the most painful: Bella's indifference. As I ignored her, she ignored me. She never tried to speak to me again. For all I knew, she never thought about me at all."**

All of the Cullens turned to look at Edward once more, smiling knowingly. For once, Edward didn't have a defensive statement, so he let them look, ignoring it as best as he could.

"**This might have driven me mad—or even broken my resolution to change the future—except that she sometimes stared at me like she had before." **

"This is getting utterly ridiculous," Alice muttered crossly. "You are falling for her already, why can't you see that?"

"Edward, Alice is right," Rose pursed her lips, "but you _are _so annoyingly stubborn that you won't ever realise you are until you've fully fallen."

Edward was starting to believe that they might be right, but he didn't repeat this thought to them.

"**I didn't see it for myself, as I could not allow myself to look at her," **

"Because if you look at her all of your resolve will crumble," Jasper guessed, smiling.

"**but Alice always warned us when she was about to stare; the others were still wary of the girl's problematic knowledge."**

"Of course we are," Rosalie laughed. "I wouldn't be surprised if I'm at the top of that list."

"I'd be right up there with you," Jasper added. "While I wouldn't want to hurt Alice, I'd still be keeping an eye on any new developments."

"**It eased some of the pain that she gazed at me from across a distance, every now and then. Of course, she could just be wondering what kind of a freak I was."**

"I wish we _could_ know Bella's thoughts," Emmett said sadly. "What if she's known for weeks that we're vampires, but hasn't voiced these thoughts to any of us?"

"Why would she come and ask one of _us_?" Rosalie raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "She'd ask Edward. I couldn't imagine Bella coming and asking _me_," she chuckled.

**"Bella's going to stare at Edward in a minute. Look normal," Alice said one Tuesday in March, and the others were careful to fidget and shift their weight like humans; absolute stillness was a marker of our kind."**

Emmett looked around at all of them now, and it was true. Nobody was moving, aside from the up-down movements of their shoulders as they breathed.

"**I paid attention to how often she looked my direction." **

"Imagine Edward with like, a secret diary where he writes _'Amount of times Bella has looked at me'_ and adds to the list every time she does," Alice laughed loudly.

"Like I would do that," Edward scoffed. "It's too childlike a notion."

"Yet falling in love isn't?" Rosalie challenged him.

"Hey, Rose," Alice frowned, "falling in love isn't childlike."

"It's a romantic, old-fashioned notion," Rosalie disagreed. "You hardly see humans in love nowadays."

"But when you do, it's beautiful," Esme said quietly. "And Edward's a vampire. He's from an older time."

"I know, and I'm not saying people _don't _fall in love," Rosalie said, defending herself. "_We're _all in love, after all. But I just…I don't think Bella will ever love him, like a vampire can."

"Well of course she wouldn't be able to," Carlisle agreed. "We have heightened emotions. When a vampire falls in love, it's forever. But humans can fall in and out of love easily."

"Not so easily," Edward mused. "I see all the time how hard it can be for humans to fall out of love."

"But they _can,_" Carlisle repeated. "Vampires can't."

"Which is a terrifying thought," Edward shuddered.

"Oh, no it's not son," Carlisle reassured him. "Esme is my soulmate. I can't ever imagine not wanting to be with her."

"It'll make sense when you're in love with Bella," Esme patted his arm.

"You're giving me such mixed signals here," Edward murmured. "You must all agree with Carlisle and Rosalie that Bella couldn't love me as much as I would love her–"

"She won't," Rosalie said. "She can't feel the same because she _can't_. Humans can't."

Edward glared at her for interrupting.

"She might, you know. One day. I saw only two futures for Bella. If she becomes a vampire–" Alice began.

"She might not be in love with me, though," Edward growled at her for suggesting it. "I _won't _let her become a vampire."

_You're acting so protective, yet you still doubt you could fall in love with her? Something's telling me you're beginning to accept it_, Alice thought, looking at her nails. Edward sighed, and went back to reading.

"**It pleased me, though it should not, that the frequency did not decline as the time passed. I didn't know what it meant, but it made me feel better."**

"Oh, you know what it means," Emmett grinned at him.

"I'm amazed that you hear the emotions in _our _heads all the time, yet you can't apply them to yourself!" Jasper threw up his hands.

"**Alice sighed. **_**I wish…**_**"**

"Ah," Alice smiled slightly. "I'm trying to convince you to let me become friends with her."

**"Stay out of it, Alice," I said under my breath. "It's not going to happen."**

Alice rolled her eyes. "It's only a matter of time, Edward Cullen."

"**She pouted. Alice was anxious to form her envisioned friendship with Bella. In a strange way, she missed the girl she didn't know."**

"We _all _do," Emmett smirked.

"It's true. We're all anxious for Bella to arrive here," Esme smiled.

"Which is still _weeks _away," Alice sighed. "No matter. She will be here, and I wouldn't be surprised if on her first day we all just bring her back to our house," she chuckled.

Edward shook his head. "There's no way I will let that happen."

"_**I'll admit, you're better than I thought. You've got the future all snarled up and senseless again. I hope you're happy."**_

Alice grumbled under her breath. "It's still only a matter of time."

**"It makes plenty of sense to me."**

Alice snorted, doubting this.

"**She snorted delicately.**

**I tried to shut her out, too impatient for conversation. I wasn't in a very good mood—tenser than I let any of them see." **

"Why?" Edward wondered.

"You miss her, probably," Emmett guessed, trying to imagine going that long without looking at or speaking to Rose. He couldn't even comprehend being able to. _I must admit, although you might not be in love with her yet, you show amazing restraint._

"Thanks," Edward muttered, rolling his eyes.

"**Only Jasper was aware of how tightly wound I was, feeling the stress emanate out of me with his unique ability to both sense and influence the moods of others. He didn't understand the reasons behind the moods, though, and—since I was constantly in a foul mood these days—he disregarded it."**

"You're _always _in a foul mood," Jasper chuckled.

"**Today would be a hard one. Harder than the day before, as was the pattern.**

**Mike Newton, the odious boy whom I could not allow myself to rival, was going to ask Bella on a date."**

Emmett blinked, and then burst into roaring laughter.

"_What?_" Jasper was choking. "You're worried about _that?_"

"Hilarious!" Rosalie was clutching her sides, shaking with laughter, leaning into Alice who was also a mess. "Oh my _God,_ Edward!"

"Shut _up_," Edward hissed, annoyed.

"**A girl's choice dance was on the near horizon," **

"I _knew _it!" Rosalie was still laughing. "The chapter title! What if Edward asks _her?_"

"I'd have to be in love with her for that to happen," Edward grumbled.

"Maybe you fall in love with her and then ask her," Alice giggled.

"**and he'd been hoping very much that Bella would ask him. That she had not done so had rattled his confidence." **

"Bella probably doesn't like him that way," Edward stated.

"It does seem like she doesn't," Esme agreed with him, hiding her smile as she looked from him to Carlisle. Carlisle was doing the same.

"**Now he was in an uncomfortable bind—I enjoyed his discomfort more than I should—because Jessica Stanley had just asked him to the dance."**

"Oh _God_," Rosalie sobered up, irritated now.

"**He didn't want to say "yes," still hopeful that Bella would choose him (and prove him the victor over his rivals), but he didn't want to say "no" and end up missing the dance altogether."**

Rosalie shook her head. "Humans."

"**Jessica, hurt by his hesitation and guessing the reason behind it, was thinking daggers at Bella."**

"She is rather astute," Rosalie allowed. "But she's not nice. I wish she'd only be friends with Angela."

"**Again, I had the instinct to place myself between Jessica's angry thoughts and Bella. I understood the instinct better now, but that only made it more frustrating when I could not act on it."**

"Finally," Alice tilted her head back to the ceiling. "At least you've admitted you're protective of her."

"It's so obvious he is though," Jasper said. "Look at him the entire time we've been reading this."

"I don't understand why," Edward frowned, not denying Jasper and Alice. "I'm the person she needs the most protecting from."

"You will, Eddiekins," Emmett leaned over and ruffled his hair, getting a furious glare in response. "You will."

"**To think it had come to this! I was utterly fixated on the petty high school dramas that I'd once held so in contempt."**

"Amazing how things can change, huh?" Rosalie grinned at him.

"**Mike was working up his nerve as he walked Bella to biology. I listened to his struggles as I waited for them to arrive. The boy was weak." **

Edward was pleased by this, but he quickly hid his emotions from Jasper.

"**He had waited for this dance purposely, afraid to make his infatuation known before she had shown a marked preference for him."**

"I'm not sure if it's because we're reading from Edward's biased thoughts, or if Mike really is that unpleasant, but I don't think I like him either," Alice frowned.

"It's probably a mixture of both," Jasper smirked at Edward.

"**He didn't want to make himself vulnerable to rejection, preferring that she make that leap first.**

**Coward."**

"Yet you're there, not admitting you're falling for her," Emmett said dramatically.

"**He sat down on our table again, comfortable with long familiarity, and I imagined the sound it would make if his body hit the opposite wall with enough force to break most of his bones."**

"DO IT!" Emmett shouted.

"Emmett!" Esme was horrified. "Don't encourage him!"

"But it would be so _funny_," he pouted. Rosalie patted his back, grinning and secretly agreeing with him.

**"So," he said to the girl, his eyes on the floor. "Jessica asked me to the spring dance."**

**"That's great," Bella answered immediately and with enthusiasm. It was hard not to smile as her tone sunk in to Mike's awareness."**

"Ha," Edward smirked. "She doesn't like him."

"Just how happy does that make you, Eddiekins?" Emmett said, in a fake doctor's voice.

"**He'd been hoping for dismay. "You'll have a lot of fun with Jessica."**

"With Bella's astuteness, I wouldn't be surprised if she knows that Mike likes her and is trying to keep him away from her," Carlisle chuckled.

"I don't know," Rosalie disagreed. "She doesn't seem too sure of herself in that department."

"And you would know this, because…?" Edward raised his eyebrows.

She flashed her teeth at him. "Because I am. It's easy for me to tell."

Edward rolled his eyes.

"**He scrambled for the right response. "Well…" he hesitated, and almost chickened out. Then he rallied. "I told her I had to think about it."**

**"Why would you do that?" she demanded. Her tone was one of disapproval, but there was the faintest hint of relief there as well."**

"_Relief_?" Edward frowned, his eyebrows pulling together. "What?!"

"**What did **_**that **_**mean? An unexpected, intense fury made my hands clench into fists."**

"Your book self doesn't like that either," Alice nudged him, a knowing smile on her face.

"**Mike did not hear the relief. His face was red with blood—fierce as I suddenly felt, this seemed like an invitation—and he looked at the floor again as he spoke."**

"Imagine if Edward just reached over and killed him," Emmett chuckled.

"That wouldn't be _funny_," Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"Yes it would!"

"You have a dark, dark sense of humour," Edward muttered.

"You mean, I find _everything_ funny."

"Including this table?"

"Including that table."

"Why?"

"What has four legs?" Emmett suddenly asked.

"I don't know, Emmett, what has four legs?" Edward asked warily.

"A TABLE!" He declared, and then burst into laughter.

Rosalie looked worriedly at her husband.

**"I was wondering if…well, if you might be planning to ask me."**

**Bella hesitated."**

"DON'T SAY YES, BELLA!" Emmett shouted at the book.

"**In that moment of her hesitation, I saw the future more clearly than Alice ever had."**

"Hey," Alice pouted. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here."

"**The girl might say yes to Mike's unspoken question now, and she might not, but either way, someday soon, she would say yes to someone." **

Rosalie sighed.

"**She was lovely and intriguing, and human males were not oblivious to this fact." **

Edward raised his eyebrows in surprise, surprise to having thought this.

"**Whether she would settle for someone in this lacklustre crowd, or wait until she was free from Forks, the day would come that she **_**would **_**say yes.**

**I saw her life as I had before—college, career…love, marriage."**

Edward was unprepared for the wave of pain that spread through him at the thought of this. He frowned, but still felt oddly sad.

"**I saw her on her father's arm again, dressed in gauzy white, her face flushed with happiness as she moved to the sound of Wagner's march."**

Esme's imagination had taken a life of its own as she listened to this. Edward looked at her sharply, and she quickly stopped thinking of him and Bella on their wedding day.

_Beautiful white flowers everywhere…_she couldn't help but thinking wistfully. Edward sighed, still in shock from before, and kept reading.

"**The pain was more than anything I'd felt before."**

Jasper, in thought, narrowed his eyes as he tried to understand.

"But why?" Edward asked.

"You must be falling for her. _Surely_ you are," Carlisle mused. "It would explain so many of your emotions."

_I think Carlisle's right,_ Jasper thought.

"**A human would have to be on the point of death to feel this pain—a human would not live through it."**

"You're heartbroken, perhaps?" Rosalie suggested.

"No," Edward shook his head.

Rose shrugged. "Well, it has to be close to that."

"**And not just pain, but outright **_**rage**_**."**

"Of course," Emmett didn't find this strange.

"**The fury ached for some kind of physical outlet. Though this insignificant, undeserving boy might not be the one that Bella would say yes to, I yearned to crush his skull in my hand, to let him stand as a representative for whoever it would be."**

Esme frowned. "I would hope that you wouldn't kill the boy Bella might choose."

"**I didn't understand this emotion—it was such a tangle of pain and rage and desire and despair. I had never felt it before; I couldn't put a name to it."**

"Jealousy, maybe?" Jasper suggested. "You sound ridiculously jealous, Edward."

**"Mike, I think you should tell her yes," Bella said in a gentle voice."**

"Ah," Alice nodded. "She was hesitating because she didn't want to hurt his feelings. Makes sense."

"How does that make _sense_?" Edward wondered.

"Well, it fits with what we know of her character," Alice shrugged.

"**Mike's hopes plummeted. I would have enjoyed that under other circumstances, but I was lost in the aftershock of the pain—and the remorse for what the pain and rage had done to me."**

"Your entire world has shifted off its axis as a result of Bella," Carlisle chuckled.

"**Alice was right. I was **_**not **_**strong enough."**

"YES!" Alice fist-pumped. "Finally! I must be rejoicing in my class."

"**Right now, Alice would be watching the future spin and twist, become mangled again. Would this please her?"**

Alice nodded enthusiastically. "Hell, yes!"

"**Did you already ask someone?" Mike asked sullenly. He glanced at me, suspicious for the first time in many weeks.**

**I realized I had betrayed my interest; my head was inclined in Bella's direction."**

"You're very interested," Jasper smirked. "Mike will be jealous of you."

"**The wild envy in his thoughts—envy for whoever this girl preferred to him— suddenly put a name to my unnamed emotion.**

**I was jealous."**

"Gasp!" Emmett slapped himself.

"So strange," Edward mused. Now that there were hard facts, he couldn't deny them any longer.

**"No," the girl said with a trace of humour in her voice. "I'm not going to the dance at all."**

"Why would she say that humourously?" Esme wondered.

"Clumsy," Rosalie guessed, thinking back to the earlier chapters. "She's probably worried her clumsiness will ruin everything for her."

"**Through all the remorse and anger, I felt relief at her words. Suddenly, I was considering **_**my **_**rivals.**

**"Why not?" Mike asked, his tone almost rude. It offended me that he used this tone with her. I bit back a growl."**

"Awww," Alice nudged Edward again. "That's adorable. You're so protective, yet you don't even realise it."

"I think we've all known Edward's protective of her since the first time he saw her," Carlisle smiled. "It was only confirmed when he saved her from the van."

**"I'm going to Seattle that Saturday," she answered."**

"Why?" Edward frowned.

"**The curiosity was not as vicious as it would have been before—now that I was fully intending to find out the answers to everything. I would know the wheres and whys of this new revelation soon enough."**

"You're definitely giving in then," Alice was pleased by this.

"**Mike's tone turned unpleasantly wheedling. "Can't you go some other weekend?"**

**"Sorry, no." Bella was brusquer now. "So you shouldn't make Jess wait any longer—it's rude."**

"She's done with him now," Rosalie smirked.

"**Her concern for Jessica's feelings fanned the flames of my jealousy. This Seattle trip was clearly an excuse to say no—did she refuse purely out of loyalty to her friend?"**

"She doesn't like him like that," Alice rolled her eyes. "Men."

"**She was more than selfless enough for that. Did she actually wish she could say yes? Or were both guesses wrong? Was she interested in someone else?"**

"Someone whose name rhymes with…" Emmett trailed off, thinking. "God, Edward, your name doesn't rhyme with _anything._"

"I doubt she's interested in me," Edward said matter-of-factly.

**"Yeah, you're right," Mike mumbled, so demoralized that I almost felt pity for him. Almost.**

**He dropped his eyes from the girl, cutting off my view of her face in his thoughts."**

"Here we go," Alice bounced in her seat. "After so long!"

"**I wasn't going to tolerate that.**

**I turned to read her face myself, for the first time in more than a month. It was a sharp relief to allow myself this, like a gasp of air to long-submerged human lungs."**

"Wow," Emmett said.

"Indeed," Jasper was frowning. "Imagine if we did that."

"And he isn't even in love with her yet!"

"He might, somewhere deep-down, know that Bella is his soulmate. I saved you from the bear, remember? I didn't kill you, I ran with you all the way back to Carlisle so he could change you," Rosalie said quietly._ Not her!_

"Maybe," Carlisle allowed. They were all in shock, and imagining how it would be if they did the same thing. Edward tuned them out.

"**Her eyes were closed, and her hands pressed against the sides of her face. Her shoulders curved inward defensively. She shook her head ever so slightly, as if she were trying to push some thought from her mind."**

Edward sighed. "I need to know!"

"And yet you never, ever will," Rose grinned at him.

"**Frustrating. Fascinating."**

"Took the words straight from my mouth," Edward muttered.

"**Mr. Banner's voice pulled her from her reverie, and her eyes slowly opened. She looked at me immediately, perhaps sensing my gaze. She stared up into my eyes with the same bewildered expression that had haunted me for so long."**

"And if there's one thing we know about that expression," Jasper chuckled, "Edward can't resist it."

"**I didn't feel the remorse or the guilt or the rage in that second. I knew they would come again, and come soon, but for this one moment I rode a strange, jittery high. As if I had triumphed, rather than lost."**

"Because you finally let yourself _look _at her again," Alice rolled her eyes. "I wish you would hurry up and fall in love with her."

"**She didn't look away, though I stared with inappropriate intensity, trying vainly to read her thoughts through her liquid brown eyes. They were full of questions, rather than answers."**

"Of course they are," Jasper said. "She's not an idiot."

"**I could see the reflection of my own eyes, and I saw that they were black with thirst."**

"Welp," Emmett gulped. "Not good."

"**It had been nearly two weeks since my last hunting trip; this was not the safest day for my will to crumble."**

"No, it really isn't," Jasper's eyes narrowed.

"**But the blackness did not seem to frighten her. She still did not look away, and a soft, devastatingly appealing pink began to colour her skin."**

"_What is she _thinking_?_" Edward said pathetically.

"_**What was she thinking now?**_

**I almost asked the question aloud, but at that moment Mr. Banner called my name. I picked the correct answer out of his head while I glanced briefly in his direction."**

"Not fair," Emmett muttered.

"**I sucked in a quick breath. "The Krebs Cycle."**

**Thirst scorched down my throat—tightening my muscles and filling my mouth with venom—and I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate through the desire for her blood that raged inside me."**

"You don't seem worried, or vicious," Alice said, assuring the frozen Edward. "You're not going to kill her."

"**The monster was stronger than before. The monster was rejoicing. He embraced this dual future that gave him an even, fifty-fifty chance at what he craved so viciously."**

"Perhaps I shouldn't have told you your future," Alice mused, upset.

"No, Alice," Edward shook his head. "It's good that I know. It doesn't _help_, but…"

"**The third, shaky future I'd tried to construct through willpower alone had crumbled— destroyed by common jealousy, of all things—and he was so much closer to his goal.**

**The remorse and the guilt burned with the thirst, and, if I'd had the ability to produce tears, they would have filled my eyes now.**

**What had I done?"**

"Nothing!" Carlisle said. "Alice is right, Edward – you aren't in danger of killing her right now."

"Yeah, in the first chapter you were all _Bella, kill, Bella, kill, _but now you're upset. Big difference," Emmett agreed.

"**Knowing the battle was already lost, there seemed to be no reason to resist what I wanted; I turned to stare at the girl again."**

"You just admitted you _want _her," Emmett said, grinning.

"**She had hidden in her hair, but I could see through a parting in the tresses that her cheek was deep crimson now.**

**The monster liked that.**

**She did not meet my gaze again, but she twisted a strand of her dark hair nervously between her fingers. Her delicate fingers, her fragile wrist—they were so breakable, looking for all the world like just my breath could snap them."**

Alice rolled her eyes. "I'd love to see how you'd react to seeing me as a human. I'm so much littler than Bella."

"I think I'm overreacting a little bit," Edward chuckled. "But you're right. If you were human you might float away into the clouds."

"She already spends most of her time up there anyway," Jasper grinned at her. She hit him playfully.

"**No, no, no. I could not do this. She was too breakable, too good, too precious to deserve this fate." **

"_So _adorable," Alice sighed. "But I knew you wouldn't hurt her."

"**I couldn't allow my life to collide with hers, to destroy it."**

"I agree," Edward murmured.

"**But I couldn't stay away from her either. Alice was right about that."**

Alice beamed at him. "And don't you forget – I'm _always _right!"

"I did say she always gets her way," Emmett chuckled.

"**The monster inside me hissed with frustration as I wavered, leaning first one way, then the other."**

"How fun for me," Alice muttered.

"**My brief hour with her passed all too quickly, as I vacillated between the rock and the hard place. The bell rang, and she started collecting her things without looking at me."**

"Aw, poor Edward," Jasper teased him. "Your crush isn't looking at you?"

"She's not my _crush_," Edward rolled his eyes.

"You're right. She's your soulmate."

Edward quickly looked away from him. **"This disappointed me, but I could hardly expect otherwise. The way I had treated her since the accident was inexcusable."**

"Thank you," Esme said approvingly.

**"Bella?" I said, unable to stop myself. My willpower already lay in shreds.**

**She hesitated before looking at me; when she turned, her expression was guarded, distrustful."**

"I'll just have to change that, won't I?" Edward smirked.

"**I reminded myself that she had every right to distrust me. That she should."**

Edward sighed at this, his smirk wiped clean.

"**She waited for me to continue, but I just stared at her, reading her face. I pulled in shallow mouthfuls of air at regular intervals, fighting my thirst.**

**"What?" she finally said. "Are you speaking to me again?"**

"I really hope so," Alice muttered.

"**There was an edge of resentment to her tone that was, like her anger, endearing. It made me want to smile."**

"She's like a kitten," Rosalie giggled.

"You might actually be right," Edward smiled with her.

"**I wasn't sure how to answer her question. **_**Was **_**I speaking to her again, in the sense that she meant?**

**No. Not if I could help it. I would try to help it."**

Alice rolled her eyes. "Good _Lord,_ but you are annoying!"

**"No, not really," I told her.**

**She closed her eyes, which frustrated me. It cut off my best avenue of access to her feelings.**

**She took a long, slow breath without opening her eyes. Her jaw was locked."**

"She's annoyed with you," Jasper chuckled.

"**Eyes still closed, she spoke. Surely this was not a normal human way to converse. Why did she do it?"**

"She didn't want to look at you, probably," Rosalie guessed.

**"Then what do you want, Edward?"**

**The sound of my name on her lips did strange things to my body."**

"Woah there, Edward," Emmett held up his hands. "Too much information."

Edward groaned. "_Emmett!_"

"**If I'd had a heartbeat, it would have quickened."**

_Well. That's not as exciting as I thought, _Emmett thought, slightly disappointed. Edward rolled his eyes.

**"****But how to answer her?**

**With the truth, I decided. I would be as truthful as I could with her from now on.** **I didn't want to deserve her distrust, even if earning her trust was impossible."**

"I'm sure that earning her trust will be easy," Esme disagreed. "She's too kind to be mad at you forever."

**"I'm sorry," I told her. That was truer than she would ever know. Unfortunately, I could only safely apologize for the trivial. "I'm being very rude, I know. But it's better this way, really."**

Rosalie and Alice groaned.

"What?" Edward demanded.

"Wrong thing to say," Rosalie explained.

"**It would be better for her if I could keep it up, continue to be rude. Could I?"**

"Nope," Alice sang.

"**Her eyes opened, their expression still wary.**

**"I don't know what you mean."**

**I tried to get as much of a warning through to her as was allowed. "It's better if we're not friends." Surely, she could sense that much. She was a bright girl. "Trust me."**

"Wrong thing to say!" Alice groaned again.

"**Her eyes tightened, and I remembered that I had said those words to her before— just before breaking a promise."**

_Good, you understand you moron!_ Rosalie thought.

"**I winced when her teeth clenched together—she clearly remembered, too."**

"Of course she does," Esme shook her head. "Like you just said, she's a bright girl."

**"It's too bad you didn't figure that out earlier," she said angrily. "You could have saved yourself all this regret."**

"Regret?" Edward repeated, frowning.

"**I stared at her in shock. What did she know of my regrets?**

**"Regret? Regret for what?" I demanded.**

**"For not just letting that stupid van squish me!" she snapped."**

"_What?_" Edward's eyebrows rose. "_What!?"_

"Oh Bella," Emmett chuckled.

"It's not funny, Emmett, that's ridiculous! Why could she think that? Doesn't she understand how difficult it is to keep her alive?!"

"**I froze, stunned.**

**How could she be thinking **_**that**_**? Saving her life was the one acceptable thing I'd done since I met her. The one thing that I was not ashamed of. The one and only thing that made me glad I existed at all." **

Edward was nodding along with this, his expression fierce.

"**I'd been fighting to keep her alive since the first moment I'd caught her scent. How could she think this of me? How dare she question my one good deed in all this mess?"**

"Bella, Bella, Bella," Emmett was still chuckling.

"_Emmett!_" Edward growled. "God, she's annoying!"

"In a good way, though, right? She lights up your world with her annoying…ness," Rosalie laughed.

Edward rolled his eyes.

**"You think I regret saving your life?"**

**"I **_**know **_**you do," she retorted.**

**Her estimation of my intentions left me seething. "You don't know anything."**

"Nice one, brother," Jasper chuckled. "Wrong thing to say."

"**How confusing and incomprehensible the workings of her mind were!"**

"We know that though," Emmett muttered. "We've established that her mind is different. That's why Edward can't hear her thoughts."

"We don't really know why Edward can't read her thoughts, though," said Carlisle.

"**She must not think in the same way as other humans at all. That must be the explanation behind her mental silence. She was entirely other."**

_We've already established this,_ Emmett thought, repeating himself.

"**She jerked her face away, gritting her teeth again. Her cheeks were flushed, with anger this time. She slammed her books together in a pile, yanked them up into her arms, and marched toward the door without meeting my stare.**

**Even irritated as I was, it was impossible not to find her anger a bit entertaining."**

Everyone was indeed grinning at this.

"**She walked stiffly, without looking where she was going, and her foot caught on the lip of the doorway."**

"She's clumsy," Rosalie chuckled. "But then again, I already had guessed this."

"**She stumbled, and her things all crashed to the ground. Instead of bending to get them, she stood rigidly straight, not even looking down, as if she were not sure the books were worth retrieving.**

**I managed not to laugh."**

"Edward," Esme reprimanded him.

"**No one was here to watch me; I flitted to her side, and had her books put in order before she looked down.**

**She bent halfway, saw me, and then froze. I handed her books back to her, making sure that my icy skin never touched hers.**

**"Thank you," she said in a cold, severe voice.**

**Her tone brought back my irritation.**

**"You're welcome," I said just as coldly."**

"Those aren't really insults," Emmett laughed.

"I don't think we were trying to be _insulting_," Edward said.

"Already with the 'we', huh?" Jasper chuckled. Edward sighed.

"**She wrenched herself upright and stomped away to her next class.**

**I watched until I could no longer see her angry figure."**

"That does sound pretty funny," Alice giggled. "Oh, Bella."

"**Spanish passed in a blur. Mrs. Goff never questioned my abstraction—she knew my Spanish was superior to hers, and she gave me a great deal of latitude–leaving me free to think."**

"Not _fair_," Emmett grumbled. "But I could probably intimidate her into leaving me alone as well."

"You will do no such thing," Esme commanded. He held his hands up in surrender, promising he wouldn't.

"**So, I couldn't ignore the girl. That much was obvious." **

Alice smiled at this.

"**But did it mean I had no choice but to destroy her? That could **_**not **_**be the only available future. There had to be some other choice, some delicate balance. I tried to think of a way…"**

"I could probably think of one," Alice said quietly.

"Then please, do share," Edward said.

"No," she shook her head. "I don't want to put the idea in your head. If your book self figures it out, I'll tell you."

"**I didn't pay much attention to Emmett until the hour was nearly up."**

Emmett pouted at this. Rosalie grinned, amused.

"**He was curious—Emmett was not overly intuitive about the shades in other's moods, but he could see the obvious change in me."**

"Thanks, Eddiekins," Emmett rolled his eyes.

"**He wondered what had happened to remove the unrelenting glower from my face. He struggled to define the change, and finally decided that I looked **_**hopeful**_**."**

"Hopeful?" Edward raised his eyebrows.

"**Hopeful? Is that what it looked like from the outside?** **I pondered the idea of hope as we walked to the Volvo, wondering what exactly I should be hoping **_**for**_**."**

"Bellaaaaa," Alice sang.

"**But I didn't have long to ponder. Sensitive as I always was to thoughts about the girl, the sound of Bella's name in the heads of…of my rivals, I suppose I had to admit, caught my attention." **

Emmett and Jasper chuckled at this, now that Edward had admitted it for real.

"**Eric and Tyler, having heard—with much satisfaction—of Mike's failure, were preparing to make their moves."**

"Which will annoy you," Alice giggled.

"**Eric was already in place, positioned against her truck where she could not avoid him. Tyler's class was being held late to receive an assignment, and he was in a desperate hurry to catch her before she escaped.**

**This I had to see."**

"She doesn't like either of them either," Rosalie rolled her eyes.

**"Wait for the others here, all right?" I murmured to Emmett.**

**He eyed me suspiciously, but then shrugged and nodded.**

_**Kid's lost his mind, **_**he thought, amused by my odd request."**

Emmett chuckled.

"**I saw Bella on her way out of the gym, and I waited where she would not see me for her to pass. As she got closer to Eric's ambush, I strode forward, setting my pace so that I would walk by at the right moment."**

"You're sort of stalking her now, Edward," Jasper shook his head, amused. "I don't know if that's the best thing to do."

"He stalks _all _of us, then," Rosalie smirked. "He can hear our thoughts without us wanting to."

"**I watched her body stiffen when she caught sight of the boy waiting for her. She froze for a moment, then relaxed and moved forward.**

**"Hi, Eric," I heard her call in a friendly voice.**

**I was abruptly and unexpectedly anxious.** **What if this gangly teen with his unhealthy skin was somehow pleasing to her?"**

"He isn't," Alice assured him. "But that's not nice, Edward."

"**Eric swallowed loudly, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Hi, Bella."**

**She seemed unconscious of his nervousness.**

**"What's up?" she asked, unlocking her truck without looking at his frightened expression."**

"She definitely has no idea that these boys all like her," Rosalie smiled. "Interesting, isn't it? She's so observant, but not when it comes to herself."

**"Uh, I was just wondering…if you would go to the spring dance with me?" His voice broke.**

**She finally looked up. Was she taken aback, or pleased? Eric couldn't meet her gaze, so I couldn't see her face in his mind.**

**"I thought it was girl's choice," she said, sounding flustered."**

"That's a no," Edward said, hiding his relief.

**"Well, yeah," he agreed wretchedly.**

**This pitiable boy did not irritate me as much as Mike Newton did, but I couldn't find it in myself to feel sympathy for his angst until after Bella had answered him in a gentle voice.**

**"Thank you for asking me, but I'm going to be in Seattle that day."**

"Why is she going to Seattle, though?" Emmett asked.

"It's probably just an excuse, like Edward said before," Jasper said. "I don't think she'd just go to Seattle on that day by chance."

"**He'd already heard this; still, it was a disappointment.**

**"Oh," he mumbled, barely daring to raise his eyes to the level of her nose. "Maybe next time."**

**"Sure," she agreed. Then she bit down on her lip, as if she regretted leaving him a loophole. I liked that."**

"She doesn't like him," Edward chuckled.

"**Eric slumped forward and walked away, headed in the wrong direction from his car, his only thought escape.**

**I passed her in that moment, and heard her sigh of relief. I laughed.**

**She whirled at the sound, but I stared straight ahead, trying to keep my lips from twitching in amusement."**

Esme rolled her eyes, annoyed at his unchivalrous behaviour.

"**Tyler was behind me, almost running in his hurry to catch her before she could drive away. He was bolder and more confident than the other two; he'd only waited to approach Bella this long because he'd respected Mike's prior claim."**

All of the younger Cullens shuddered at this.

"Just because he hit her with the freaking van," Rose growled.

"Almost hit her, Rose," Carlisle corrected.

"**I wanted him to succeed in catching her for two reasons. If—as I was beginning to suspect—all this attention was annoying to Bella, I wanted to enjoy watching her reaction." **

"If only she knew that Edward Cullen spent almost every minute of every day obsessing over her," Emmett chuckled. "I'd love to hear her reaction to _that._"

"**But, if it was not—if Tyler's invitation was the one she'd been hoping for—then I wanted to know that, too."**

"Tyler isn't her type," Alice sighed, rubbing her forehead, irritated. "She wanted him to shut up in the hospital. She doesn't like him."

"**I measured Tyler Crowley as a rival, knowing it was wrong to do so. He seemed tediously average and unremarkable to me, but what did I know of Bella's preferences?**

**Maybe she liked average boys…**

**I winced at that thought. I could never be an average boy."**

Edward raised an eyebrow at this, surprised he would think it.

"Book Edward has certainly changed _his _tune," Jasper noted.

"Yes, I wonder what it could mean…" Alice winked at Edward. He rolled his eyes.

"**How foolish it was to set myself up as a rival for her affections." **

Edward's eyebrows rose ever higher. "What on _earth?_"

"A rival for her affections, huh?" Emmett grinned widely.

Esme was smiling too. _Finally. Finally, finally, finally._

"**How could she ever care for someone who was, by any estimation, a monster?**

**She was too good for a monster."**

Edward sighed unhappily.

"You're so dramatic," Rosalie grumbled.

"I've wanted to kill her ever since I've known her," Edward reminded her. "I'm pretty sure normal boys don't think that about girls."

"**I ought to have let her escape, but my inexcusable curiosity kept me from doing what was right. Again. But what if Tyler missed his chance now, only to contact her later when I would have no way of knowing the outcome? I pulled my Volvo out into the narrow lane, blocking her exit."**

"_Edward_," Esme chastised, but she was too amused to be really annoyed with him.

"**Emmett and the others were on their way, but he'd described my strange behaviour to them, and they were walking slowly, watching me, trying to decipher what I was doing."**

"Of course we are," Alice laughed. "I'll be so confused, especially after that biology lesson of yours."

"**I watched the girl in my rearview mirror. She glowered toward the back of my car without meeting my gaze, looking as if she wished she were driving a tank rather than a rusted Chevy."**

Emmett burst out laughing at this. "Oh, this girl is _hilarious! _She sounds like the kind of girl who'd…I don't know, who'd punch a werewolf, or jump off a cliff or something!"

Edward groaned. "I really hope she wouldn't do that, Em."

"She isn't afraid of _you_," he raised his eyebrows. "Those don't seem like such huge stretches."

"True, but I don't think that that means she'd do those kinds of things."

"Whatever, man. I still think it'd be funny."

"**Tyler hurried to his car and got in line behind her, grateful for my inexplicable behaviour. He waved at her, trying to catch her attention, but she didn't notice. He waited a moment, and then left his car, sauntering up to her passenger side window." **

"Sauntering up," Rosalie shuddered. "He seems so awful and disgusting and…"

"We get the point," Jasper smirked, sending her a wave of calm emotions.

"**He tapped on the glass.**

**She jumped, and then stared at him in confusion. After a second, she rolled the window down manually, seeming to have some trouble with it.**

**"I'm sorry, Tyler," she said, her voice irritated. "I'm stuck behind Cullen."**

"Bella's still angry with you," Emmett chuckled.

"**She said my surname in a hard voice—she was still angry with me.**

**"Oh, I know," Tyler said, undeterred by her mood. "I just wanted to ask you something while we're trapped here."**

**His grin was cocky.**

**I was gratified by the way she blanched at his obvious intent."**

"She knows," Rosalie laughed.

"Poor Bella," Alice laughed with her.

**"Will you ask me to the spring dance?" he asked, no thought of defeat in his head."**

"Disgusting," Rosalie growled.

**"I'm not going to be in town, Tyler," she told him, irritation still plain in her voice.**

**"Yeah, Mike said that."**

**"Then why—?" she started to ask.**

**He shrugged. "I was hoping you were just letting him down easy."**

**Her eyes flashed, then cooled. "Sorry, Tyler," she said, not sounding sorry at all. "I really am going to be out of town."**

"Go Bella!" Emmett cheered.

"**He accepted that excuse, his self-assurance untouched. "That's cool. We still have prom."**

"Ughhhh," Rosalie cringed, shuddering.

"**He strutted back to his car."**

"Damn that boy is annoying," Emmett agreed with his wife.

"**I was right to have waited for this.**

**The horrified expression on her face was priceless. It told me what I should not so desperately need to know—that she had no feelings for any of these human males who wished to court her."**

"That was literally only three human males," Alice chuckled. "But you're right – it does seem as if all of this attention really dumbfounds her."

"**Also, her expression was possibly the funniest thing I'd ever seen.**

**My family arrived then, confused by the fact that I was, for a change, rocking with laughter rather than scowling murderously at everything in sight."**

"It would confuse us," Jasper smiled. "But you might just have the vampire equivalent of a bipolar disorder."

"Totally, Jasper," Edward shook his head, amused nonetheless.

"_**What's so funny? **_**Emmett wanted to know.**

**I just shook my head while I also shook with fresh laughter as Bella revved her noisy engine angrily. She looked like she was wishing for a tank again."**

"I bet I'd be annoyed by this," Rosalie said suddenly, smirking knowingly.

**"Let's go!" Rosalie hissed impatiently. "Stop being an idiot. If you **_**can**_**."**

Rose burst out laughing at herself, very amused. "Gosh, I'm acting so differently!"

"Well, like you said before, you know what Edward's thinking now, and you have a more direct link to Bella. Your book self must be so confused," Alice smiled too.

"**Her words didn't annoy me—I was too entertained. But I did as she asked.**

**No one spoke to me on the way home. I continued to chuckle every now and again, thinking of Bella's face."**

"Just like a crazy person," Emmett laughed.

"**As I turned on to the drive—speeding up now that there were no witnesses— Alice ruined my mood.**

**"So do I get to talk to Bella now?" she asked suddenly, without considering the words first, thus giving me no warning."**

"Ugh, Alice!" Edward groaned.

Alice shrugged, not apologising. "I want to be friends with her too."

"You're the same person," Emmett said stupidly. Alice rolled her eyes, amused.

**"No," I snapped.**

**"Not fair! What am I waiting for?"**

"For Edward to fall in love," Jasper guessed, grinning.

**"I haven't decided anything, Alice."**

**"Whatever, Edward."**

**In her head, Bella's two destinies were clear again."**

"Good," Alice approved. "That's just going to make me even more smug than I usually am."

**"What's the point in getting to know her?" I mumbled, suddenly morose. "If I'm just going to kill her?"**

Everyone sighed unhappily at this.

"**Alice hesitated for a second. "You have a point," she admitted."**

"That still doesn't mean anything," Alice said. "We can help him not try and kill her. And once he falls in love…"

"…which will never, ever happen with my resolve…"

Alice glared at him. "Once he falls in love with her, he'll try extra hard not to."

"**I took the final hairpin turn at ninety miles an hour, and then screeched to a stop an inch from the back garage wall."**

"Imagine if he wasn't paying attention and drove through the garage wall," Emmett laughed loudly. "That would make my entire week."

"It would make a mess," Rosalie shook her heading, chuckling.

"That doesn't mean that it won't be fun," he said, laughing still.

"I'd make you clean it up," Esme said. "So don't get any ideas."

**"Enjoy your run," Rosalie said smugly as I threw myself out of the car."**

"Why would that make me _smug_?" Rosalie wondered.

"Because you know at least something of my routine," Edward guessed.

"**But I didn't go running today. Instead, I went hunting.**

**The others were scheduled to hunt tomorrow, but I couldn't afford to be thirsty now." **

"Because you're going to start talking to Bella again," Alice said smugly.

"**I overdid it, drinking more than necessary, glutting myself again—a small grouping of elk and one black bear I was lucky to stumble across this early in the year."**

"Hey!" Emmett exclaimed. "I've been waiting for that bear to mature for _ever_, Edward! And here you are just glutting yourself on it, not even for the taste!"

"Sorry, Em," Edward chuckled. "That was in the book, though. I'll leave your bear alone."

"You'd better."

"**I was so full it was uncomfortable."**

Edward cringed, thinking about how he would have to do that exact same thing in a few short weeks.

"**Why couldn't that be enough? Why did her scent have to be so much stronger than anything else?"**

Edward sighed. "It's not fair."

"**I had hunted in preparation for the next day, but, when I could hunt no more and the sun was still hours and hours from rising, I knew that the next day was not soon enough.**

**The jittery high swept through me again when I realized that I was going to go find the girl."**

"What!" Edward exclaimed.

"Oh my god, you're going to her _house,_" Alice laughed, clapping.

"A bit weird, though," Jasper frowned.

"Remember how I said that thing about Edward going to her house? Looks like I had a premonition," Emmett chuckled.

"You did _not _have a premonition, Emmett," Alice rolled her eyes. "You were making a joke, like you always do."

Emmett pouted at this.

"**I argued with myself all the way back to Forks," **

"I would have loved to have seen that," Emmett boomed, laughing again.

"**but my less noble side won the argument, and I went ahead with my indefensible plan. The monster was restless but well-fettered. I knew I would keep a safe distance from her. I only wanted to know where she was. I just wanted to see her face."**

"Awwwwwwwwww!" Alice sighed, and Rosalie was thinking along the same thoughts.

_I wonder…_Rosalie began, thinking, then shut Edward out.

Esme was smiling happily too, but she was a little irritated that he was going to find her while she was sleeping.

"**It was past midnight, and Bella's house was dark and quiet. Her truck was parked against the curb, her father's police cruiser in the driveway. There were no conscious thoughts anywhere in the neighbourhood. I watched the house for a moment from the blackness of the forest that bordered it on the east."**

"Bella has a _forest?_" Emmett exclaimed, sounding very jealous.

"Emmett, we live in the middle of a forest," Rosalie sighed.

"Yeah, but, she's _human_. No fair, I didn't have a forest when I was human," he sighed sadly.

"**The front door would probably be locked—not a problem, except that I didn't want to leave a broken door as evidence behind me.**

**I decided to try the upstairs window first. Not many people would bother installing a lock there."**

"I bet that's Bella's bedroom," Jasper smirked.

"**I crossed the open yard and scaled the face of the house in half a second."**

"Alright there, mister, no need to brag," Esme wagged a finger at him accusingly. Edward smirked in return.

"**Dangling from the eave above the window by one hand, I looked through the glass, and my breath stopped. It was her room."**

"Knew it," Jasper applauded himself.

"I could have told you that too," Alice muttered. "I can see the future."

"We _know _you can see the future," Edward laughed, in an oddly good mood, but he didn't know why.

"**I could see her in the one small bed, her covers on the floor and her sheets twisted around her legs. As I watched, she twitched restlessly and threw one arm over her head.** **She did not sleep soundly, at least not this night."**

"Nightmares," Edward guessed.

"I don't remember having nightmares," Rosalie said sadly. "Although I suppose that's a good thing."

"To some people, vampires might be nightmares," Edward said quietly.

"Not to Bella," Alice said automatically.

"She doesn't _know _we're vampires though," Esme said.

"That we know of," Jasper muttered.

"**Did she sense the danger near her?"**

"I would hope so. She hasn't reacted rightly or properly to _anything _with me so far, though," Edward sighed.

"**I was repulsed by myself as I watched her toss again. How was I any better than some sick peeping tom? I **_**wasn't **_**any better. I was much, much worse."**

"Good," Esme nodded. "You're leaving."

"That was getting a little disturbing," Alice agreed.

"**I relaxed my fingertips, about to let myself drop. But first I allowed myself one long look at her face."**

"I'm trying to find this sick, but she's Edward's first crush," Alice paused. "Is that bad that I'm not screaming at Edward and throwing furniture at him?"

"Yes," Edward nodded. "I have no idea what I'm doing there."

"**It was not peaceful. The little furrow was there between her eyebrows, the corners of her lips turned down. Her lips trembled, and then parted.**

**"Okay, Mom," she muttered."**

Everybody groaned at this, but were still amused.

"I'm _never _leaving now," Edward said, laughing. "If Bella talks in her sleep – there's literally nothing that could stop me from staying."

"**Bella talked in her sleep.**

**Curiosity flared, overpowering self-disgust. The lure of those unprotected, unconsciously spoken thoughts was impossibly tempting."**

Edward nodded, his eyes brightening considerably. He seemed like he would run all the way to Phoenix just to hear Bella's unconscious thoughts.

"**I tried the window, and it was not locked, though it stuck due to long disuse. I slid it slowly aside, cringing at each faint groan of the metal frame. I would have to find some oil for next time…"**

"Next time," Emmett repeated, chuckling, of course finding the situation hilarious.

"**Next time? I shook my head, disgusted again."**

"At least you're understand how creepy this is," Esme muttered, flashing a glare at Emmett.

"**I eased myself silently through the half-opened window.**

**Her room was small—disorganized but not unclean. There were books piled on the floor beside her bed, their spines facing away from me, and CDs scattered by her inexpensive CD player—the one on top was just a clear jewel case."**

"Of course you'll want to immediately go to them," Rosalie rolled her eyes. "So damn predictable."

"**Stacks of papers surrounded a computer that looked like it belonged in a museum dedicated to obsolete technologies."**

Alice shuddered at this. "We'll just have to replace that, won't we?"

"Just like her truck," Rosalie muttered.

"**Shoes dotted the wooden floor.**

**I wanted very much to go read the titles of her books and CDs," **

"Yes," Edward nodded.

"**but I'd promised myself that I would keep my distance;" **

"Because keeping your distance equals entering the _bedroom _of her," Jasper shook his head.

"**instead, I went to sit on the old rocking chair in the far corner of the room.**

**Had I really once thought her average-looking?" **

Alice and Esme beamed at this.

_Of course he thinks she's beautiful now, _Esme sighed happily.

"**I thought of that first day, and my disgust for the boys who were so immediately intrigued with her. But when I remembered her face in their minds now, I could not understand why I had not found her beautiful immediately." **

Edward's eyebrows shot up, but even as he was surprised, a part of him was agreeing absolutely. This part quickly took over from his surprise, and he accepted the fact that she was indeed beautiful.

Rosalie, as if sensing some change, narrowed her eyes at him scrutinizingly. Not for the first time did he hear the jealous tint to her thoughts, but he still didn't understand how she could be jealous, or what he had done to her to warrant this jealousy.

"**It seemed an obvious thing.** **Right now—with her dark hair tangled and wild around her pale face, wearing a threadbare t-shirt full of holes with tatty sweatpants, her features relaxed in unconsciousness, her full lips slightly parted—she took my breath away."**

"Still kind of disturbed here," Jasper murmured. "Do we need to hear what she's wearing as she sleeps? It's kind of…personal, don't you think?"

Edward sighed. "I know, Jazz. I don't understand why I am doing this, but it's a book. I can't stop what SM has written."

"**Or would have, I thought wryly, if I were breathing."**

"Good, at least you have _some _sense left," Jasper shook his head, amused slightly.

"**She did not speak. Perhaps her dream had ended."**

"I'd like to dream again," Rosalie said wistfully.

"As would we all," Edward murmured.

"**I stared at her face and tried to think of some way to make the future bearable.**

**Hurting her was not bearable. Did that mean my only choice was to try to leave again?"**

Alice sighed. "More headaches for me, hooray!"

"I still doubt that Edward will be able to leave her," Carlisle said. "Bella's become too important."

"I must say, I think I agree," Edward said hesitantly. "I can't imagine what leaving her would do to my sanity."

"You _have _no sanity, so probably nothing at all," Emmett teased him. _No but seriously, I think it might upset you immensely if you did indeed go._

"**The others could not argue with me now. My absence would not put anyone in danger. There would be no suspicion, nothing to link anyone's thoughts back to the accident."**

"That's true," Jasper nodded. "Bella's kept her word."

"Of course she did," Emmett rolled his eyes as if this should be obvious. "I think it's clear by now that Bella's _just. Too. Damn. Awesome._"

"**I wavered as I had this afternoon, and nothing seemed possible."**

"You couldn't go," Esme shook her head delicately. "There's no way you'd be able to."

"**I could not hope to rival the human boys, whether these specific boys appealed to her or not. I was a monster. How could she see me as anything else? If she knew the truth about me, it would frighten and repulse her. Like the intended victim in a horror movie, she would run away, shrieking in terror."**

"Don't presume too damn much," Alice growled. "Bella might just surprise you."

"Do you know something again, Alice?" Edward raised his eyebrows in question.

"Not at all," she shook her head as no. "But she's reacted differently so far. Who knows how she'd react if she did find out we're vampires?"

"**I remembered her first day in biology…and knew that this was exactly the right reaction for her to have."**

"She _did _react badly on that day," Alice acknowledged. "But she wasn't exactly running and screaming in fear. She stayed where she was. A little brave of her, a little stupid of her, but it's _Bella._ I would love to know what might happen if she were to know about the vampires."

"**It was foolishness to imagine that if had I been the one to ask her to the silly dance, she would have cancelled her hastily-made plans and agreed to go with me."**

"That's not foolishness," Esme said. "That's hope."

"**I was not the one she was destined to say yes to. It was someone else, someone human and warm." **

"Like a werewolf?" Emmett joked. "Okay, bad joke on my part, I'll admit. But they _are _warm."

"**And I could not even let myself—someday, when that yes was said—hunt him down and kill him, because she deserved him, whoever he was. She deserved happiness and love with whomever she chose."**

"You call yourself a selfish creature," Carlisle said quietly, "yet you think things like this."

"Carlisle's right," Esme smiled at him. "That was astoundingly selfless of you to think." _Perhaps you have indeed accepted that falling in love with her is inevitable, _she added to herself, but of course Edward heard her hopeful thought.

"**I owed it to her to do the right thing now; I could no longer pretend that I was only **_**in danger **_**of loving this girl."**

Edward shook his head. "There's no way I could have accepted it."

Alice let out a sigh. "Of course _you _think that. You haven't even met Bella yet. Your book self has, and has gotten to know her, both voluntarily and involuntarily. It shouldn't come as such a shock that you're starting to believe my premonitions."

"I know you're right, Alice," Edward murmured, "but that is still _me._ It's odd to think that myself has accepted it, for I can't." _Which is a lie, but they don't need to know that_, he thought to himself.

Alice exchanged a look with Jasper, both disbelieving.

"**After all, it really didn't matter if I left, because Bella could never see me the way I wished she would. Never see me as someone worthy of love."**

"_Everybody _is worthy of love!" Esme cried. "Don't say such things, Edward!"

Edward smiled sadly at her.

"**Never."**

"No," Esme frowned, unhappy.

"**Could a dead, frozen heart break? It felt like mine would."**

"Literally heartbroken," Emmett chuckled. Jasper felt slightly on edge, as did they all, for they sensed that something big was about to happen.

**"Edward," Bella said."**

Edward froze. "Oh no," he said in horror. "She _woke _up!"

Emmett burst into laughter. "Oh, man! I can't wait to see how you talk your way out of this, Eddiekins!"

"**I froze, staring at her unopened eyes."**

"Oh," Rosalie murmured, understanding. "Not awake. She's…"

"…_dreaming_ of me," Edward finished dazedly, feeling his heart swell in his chest as he processed what that might mean.

"**Had she woken, caught me here? She **_**looked **_**asleep, yet her voice had been so clear…"**

"She's dreaming!" Emmett yelled at the book, willing book Edward to hear him. Edward rolled his eyes at his behaviour, but was still feeling something huge shift in himself, in his being, in his entire biological makeup. He wasn't sure what it was, and yet…he felt like he _should_.

"**She sighed a quiet sigh, and then moved restlessly again, rolling to her side—still fast asleep and dreaming.**

**"Edward," she mumbled softly."**

"She's _dreaming _of him, though," Esme sighed, sounding so happy that Jasper almost had to calm her down. "Carlisle, she's dreaming of our son! She must like him. Not the human boys, but _our _Edward."

Carlisle smiled at her, pulling her close. "It's wonderful," he replied quietly, surprised at this turn of events, but happy.

"**She was dreaming of me."**

"Took you long enough," Alice giggled, flashing a look at her brother. She could feel the tendrils of a new future playing at the edges of her mind, but she wasn't sure what vision might play for her just yet.

"**Could a dead, frozen heart beat again? It felt like mine was about to."**

"Imagine if Edward suddenly became a human," Emmett joked, and everyone cracked a grin at the silly notion.

**"Stay," she sighed. "Don't go. Please…don't go."**

"There's not even _any _chance in hell now that you will be able to leave her," Jasper shook his head, amused, but rather happy – the emotions of his family were affecting more as they were all put together.

"I wonder what could be happening in her dream," Edward wondered aloud, the dreamy look still on his face as he drowned in the strange emotions he was feeling.

"**She was dreaming of me, and it wasn't even a nightmare. She wanted me to stay with her, there in her dream."**

"Strange nightmare, if it was one," Emmett chuckled.

"**I struggled to find words to name the feelings that flooded through me, but I had no words strong enough to hold them. For a long moment, I drowned in them."**

Alice inhaled deeply, feeling the tension in the room. Jasper, obviously, felt it even more. The only other one who could have had any other sense of what was going on was Rosalie, and she looked at them both with wide eyes.

_Could it be?_ Alice wondered. Edward looked at her, hearing her strange thought, but he was also struggling to come back to himself and couldn't ask her what she meant.

"**When I surfaced, I was not the same man I had been."**

Alice, Rosalie and Jasper were all breathing heavily now, the anticipation metaphorically killing them. They snuck a look at Edward, who was still methodically reading, and while he was absorbing the words, he had an odd look – a _new _look – in his eyes that they weren't sure about.

"**My life was an unending, unchanging midnight. It must, by necessity, always be midnight for me. So how was it possible that the sun was rising now, in the middle of my midnight?"**

"Odd metaphor, but okay," Emmett chuckled, looking to his siblings for encouragement, but they were too focused on the story.

"**At the time that I had become a vampire, trading my soul and my mortality for immortality in the searing pain of transformation, I had truly been frozen. My body had turned into something more like rock than flesh, enduring and unchanging. My **_**self**_**, also, had frozen as it was—my personality, my likes and my dislikes, my moods and my desires; all were fixed in place."**

"Oh, my God, you guys," Alice breathed, staring up at her husband with even wider eyes than before. He returned the stare, about to ask something, when Esme interrupted.

"What, Alice?" Esme asked, curious, having noticed the change between the three of them.

"I'm almost entirely sure you're about to find out," Alice said, still wide-eyed, a hint of a smile on her lips.

"**It was the same for the rest of them. We were all frozen. Living stone.**

**When change came for one of us, it was a rare and permanent thing."**

Alice began bouncing in her seat nervously.

"I can't believe it!" Rosalie exclaimed, a huge smile on her face. She was genuinely happy for Edward in that moment, though he didn't understand why. He was still in his dreamlike state.

"**I had seen it happen with Carlisle, and then a decade later with Rosalie."**

Carlisle, Esme and Emmett all finally clicked.

"Oh, my God!" Esme shrieked, throwing herself at Edward.

"**Love had changed them in an eternal way, a way that never faded."**

"_Love_," Edward repeated quietly–not disbelieving, but curious–reading around Esme's arms.

"**More than eighty years had passed since Carlisle had found Esme, and yet he still looked at her with the incredulous eyes of first love. It would always be that way for them."**

Carlisle and Esme turned and smiled brilliantly at each other, ridiculously happy.

"**It would always be that way for me, too." **

Everybody took a collective breath and held it.

"**I would always love this fragile human girl, for the rest of my limitless existence."**

"AHHHHHHHH!" Alice screamed.

Everybody else was gaping, but smiling. It was a strange thing to see.

Edward seemed oblivious as they all threw themselves at him, a massive group of vampires all trying to hug him.

"**I gazed at her unconscious face, feeling this love for her settle into every portion of my stone body."**

As he read this, Edward finally understood what was going on inside him. He was…being rewritten. Like an author had decided that he wasn't _right, _but now he was. Emotions swam in him freely now, and his heart was singing with joy, with _love_. No longer disbelieving, Edward let out a long breath.

The emotions he was feeling were, of course, all centred around Bella. The girl he'd been protecting without even realising it, the girl his life had begun to revolve around, the girl he couldn't believe before might be his soulmate.

How _stupid _he was!

He'd been right when he'd said that falling for Bella would be effortless; it was. He'd been falling for her for a while now, without even realising it. It was so easy for him to understand what the others had been telling him – _you'll understand when you fall in love with her, _etcetera. He couldn't imagine how he had been existing before this. Bella was quite literally his soulmate, and his whole body, heart and mind were screaming to run to Phoenix to find her, to actually _meet _this girl, but instead he decided to repeat what was being thought over and over in his head.

"I love her," Edward told them assuredly.

"Yes, we know!" Alice pulled back and beamed at him, the smile fading slightly when she saw the look on his face. "Edward?" She frowned.

Jasper, of course, felt the change immediately. He pulled back from him too, his eyes wide, his mouth gaping. "Edward…"

"What?" Emmett demanded, pulling back as well. "What's going on?"

"I _love _her," he repeated. "I love Bella. I _love _Bella. With my whole heart, my whole spirit, even my whole soul, I suppose. I must have been falling for a while now, without even realising it…"

"Wait," Emmett held his hands up. "You mean, in real life, right? Not in the book? You're not psycho-analysing yourself right now?"

"No, Emmett," Edward chuckled. "I do mean in real life."

Esme let out a sob and tightened her hold on him more. Carlisle had also tightened his hold, as had Rosalie, and the others regrouped.

"I appreciate the support, everyone," Edward joked.

"EDWARD CULLEN CRACKED A JOKE," Emmett shouted, and everyone burst out laughing.

"What a rare occurrence," Rosalie laughed. "We should savour this moment. It'll never happen again."

"I just can't believe it," Esme breathed, "after all this time…"

"I know," Edward nodded, hiding his smile. "I wonder when the last time I cracked a joke was…"

"HE DID IT AGAIN!" Emmett couldn't believe it. "I like you in love, Edward. You're already in a better mood."

"Bella's just too awesome," Edward chuckled.

"Oh, I want to meet her," Alice complained.

"So do I," Edward sighed.

"Don't worry, four weeks isn't eternity," Carlisle said, trying to reassure him.

"I might have to disagree with you there," Edward murmured. "Waiting four entire weeks to see her might just become my personal hell on earth."

"Which means the return of bad mood Edward," Emmett groaned. Edward laughed.

"Yes, so like Rose said, savour this while you can," he said.

"Oh, we should keep reading," Alice sighed. "I want to know what happens next."

"Then get off of me, little one, and I will," Edward ruffled her hair affectionately. She shrieked, pulling away from him instantly, dancing out of his reach. Everyone else laughed and went and sat back on the couches.

"I can't say I've ever been hugged by six people at once," Edward mused, smirking.

"Check that off the bucket list," Jasper joked. Edward laughed, and kept reading.

"**She slept more peacefully now, a slight smile on her lips."**

"Bella literally has no idea of what just happened," Esme realised. "She's going to be in for a shock tomorrow."

"**Always watching her, I began to plot."**

"Oh goodness," Alice sighed. "Of course your book self would react badly to this."

"Not badly," Edward disagreed. "_I _haven't smelled Bella's blood. My book self has. Being in love with someone who you could easily kill will make me even more nervous."

"Yet it doesn't make you nervous?" Emmett wondered.

"Of _course _it makes me nervous. I've not smelled her blood yet. The only preparation I have is this book, and it's only words on paper."

"We'll help you," Carlisle assured him.

"Perhaps taking Edward to Bella's room some time might help?" Alice suggested.

"Yes," Edward nodded. "That could help. At least partially. It'd prepare me."

"And then when Bella actually moves in…"

"Her scent will be renewed, and I'll have at least had some time to prepare myself," Edward mused. "It's a good plan. I'd have to have some of you with me though – I fear what could happen to me in that moment, if the first chapter of this book is anything to go by."

"Looks like we're not leaving, huh?" Rosalie smiled. She'd stopped wanting them to move ages ago, but she wanted to hear the confirmation.

"No, Rosalie," Carlisle smiled too. "We're not leaving Forks."

"**I loved her, and so I would try to be strong enough to leave her." **

"As soon as we say we aren't leaving…" Jasper chuckled.

"**I knew I wasn't that strong now." **

"Oh please," Alice rolled her eyes, "you'll never be able to. Unless she orders you away. Perhaps then."

Emmett made a whip sound. Edward rolled his eyes, but didn't deny it. He knew he probably would do whatever Bella told him to.

"**I would work on that one. But perhaps I was strong enough to circumvent the future in another way.**

**Alice had seen only two futures for Bella, and now I understood them both."**

"You couldn't kill her _now_," Esme frowned. "Not _now_."

"Like I said earlier, perhaps he might let his guard down too much and accidentally kill her," Rose shrugged. "I don't like it, but it could happen. Edward will need to be very, very careful."

"**Loving her would not keep me from killing her, if I let myself make mistakes."**

Rosalie nodded in approval.

"**Yet I could not feel the monster now, could not find him anywhere in me. Perhaps love had silenced him forever." **

"I hope so," Edward shuddered. "I'd hate to have that malicious part of me _enjoy_ taking Bella's life if I accidentally killed her."

"**If I killed her now, it would not be intentional, only a horrible accident."**

"It's rather amazing, though," Carlisle commented, "that you can think this way."

"**I would have to be inordinately careful. I would never, ever be able to let my guard down. I would have to control my every breath. I would have to keep an always cautious distance."**

"It's strange how we're on the same page, huh?" Rosalie smiled at Edward. "For once."

"For once," Edward chuckled.

"**I would not make mistakes."**

"Oh look, it's the king of stubborn," Emmett mumbled unenthusiastically. "I'd wondered where he'd gone off to."

"**I finally understood that second future. I'd been baffled by that vision—what could possibly happen to result in Bella becoming a prisoner to this immortal half-life?"**

"What I did," Rosalie sighed.

"**Now—devastated by longing for the girl—I could understand how I might, in unforgivable selfishness, ask my father for that favour." **

Edward considered this, and agreed with his book self. He could easily imagine giving in to this desire, as a result of his desire for Bella.

"**Ask him to take away her life and her soul so that I could keep her forever."**

"You wouldn't be able to live only one lifetime with her," Emmett rolled his eyes.

"**She deserved better.**

**But I saw one more future, one thin wire that I might be able to walk, if I could keep my balance.**

**Could I do it? Be with her and leave her human?"**

"I hope so," Edward sighed. "I don't see how it's possible, but I hope so."

"**Deliberately, I took a deep breath, and then another, letting her scent rip through me like wildfire."**

Edward gasped at this, as did everyone else.

"_Wow_," Jasper breathed, slightly jealous that he could show this restraint.

"How…_how!?"_

"I don't know, son," Carlisle was amazed. "Perhaps your being shies away from harming her."

"I really hope that that is the case," Edward was amazed, too.

"**The room was thick with her perfume; her fragrance was layered on every surface. My head swam, but I fought the spinning. I would have to get used to this, if I were going to attempt any kind of relationship with her. I took another deep, burning breath."**

"I just, I don't know what to say," Edward shook his head. "I hate to be like this, but I'm pretty damn proud of myself right now."

"We all are," Esme smiled at him. "Let's hope you can do that, too."

"Let's hope, indeed."

"**I watched her sleeping until the sun rose behind the eastern clouds, plotting and breathing."**

"You sound crazy," Emmett laughed. "You sound like a typical villain. If a human read just that sentence, they'd definitely think you're insane and trying to kidnap her or something."

"**I got home just after the others had left for school. I changed quickly, avoiding Esme's questioning eyes."**

"Thanks, son," Esme rolled her eyes, amused.

"You're keeping it a secret," Alice shook her head. "But I'm sure I'll have been watching your future change all night."

"It would have been like a movie, right?" Emmett laughed. "Forget a mass murdering spree inside the Forks High School cafeteria, you should have busted out the popcorn for _that._"

Alice laughed at this.

"**She saw the feverish light in my face, and she felt both worry and relief. My long melancholy had pained her, and she was glad it seemed to be over."**

"Of course I would be," Esme smiled.

"**I ran to school, arriving a few seconds after my siblings did. They did not turn, though Alice at least must have known that I stood here in the thick woods that bordered the pavement. I waited until no one was looking, and then I strolled casually from between the trees into the lot full of parked cars."**

"So casual," Emmett chuckled.

"**I heard Bella's truck rumbling around the corner, and I paused behind a Suburban, where I could watch without being seen."**

"Rumbling," Rosalie repeated, shuddering. "I should offer to at least _look _at her engine if she persists in keeping the damn truck."

"**She drove into the lot, glaring at my Volvo for a long moment before she parked in one of the most distant spaces, a frown on her face."**

Everyone laughed at this.

"It's so strange to think that she might still be angry with me," Edward grinned.

"**It was strange to remember that she was probably still angry with me, and with good reason."**

"'Good reason'," Edward quoted. "I didn't _really _do anything."

"Of course you didn't," Alice rolled her eyes, smiling.

"**I wanted to laugh at myself—or kick myself. All my plotting and planning was entirely moot if she didn't care for me, too, wasn't it? Her dream could have been about something completely random. I was such an arrogant fool."**

"Yes, because there are millions of people nowadays with the name Edward," Emmett shook his head.

"**Well, it was so much the better for her if she didn't care for me. That wouldn't stop me from pursuing her, but I would give her fair warning as I pursued. I owed her that."**

"You're such a weird person," Jasper laughed. "You keep flipping between moods so fast, I shudder to imagine how I will have to deal with it when Bella actually arrives here."

"**I walked silently forward, wondering how best to approach her.**

**She made it easy. Her truck key slipped through her fingers as she got out, and fell into a deep puddle.**

**She reached down, but I got to it first, retrieving it before she had to put her fingers in the cold water."**

"So chivalrous," Rosalie joked. "How thoughtful of you, kind sir."

"**I leaned back against her truck as she started and then straightened up.**

**"How do you **_**do **_**that?" she demanded."**

"Still angry," Alice laughed.

"**Yes, she was still angry.**

**I offered her the key. "Do what?"**

**She held her hand out, and I dropped the key in her palm. I took a deep breath, pulling in her scent."**

Edward blinked, surprised he could mention it so casually, as if it were no big deal. He felt weirdly jealous, then stopped himself as this was _him, _after all."

"**Appear out of thin air," she clarified."**

"She's so observant!" Jasper shook his head, amazed. "I wonder how long it does take before she starts trying to work out what we are."

"I wouldn't be surprised if she has already," Carlisle said. "She's intelligent enough to realise that we're not _exactly _human."

**"Bella, it's not my fault if you are exceptionally unobservant."**

**The words were wry, almost a joke. Was there anything she didn't see?"**

"Good," Esme said. "For a moment there, I was worried you were being serious."

"**Did she hear how my voice wrapped around her name like a caress?"**

Alice, Rosalie and Esme smiled at this.

"It's so odd to see you behaving so differently already," Rosalie commented. "It's adorable, nonetheless."

"**She glared at me, not appreciating my humour." **

"That's because she probably doesn't know you're joking," Jasper chuckled.

"**Her heartbeat sped—from anger? From fear? After a moment, she looked down.**

**"Why the traffic jam last night?" she asked without meeting my eyes. "I thought you were supposed to be pretending I don't exist, not irritating me to death."**

**Still very angry. It was going to take some effort to make things right with her. I remembered my resolve to be truthful with her…**

**"That was for Tyler's sake, not mine. I had to give him his chance." And then I laughed. I couldn't help it, thinking of her expression yesterday."**

"Gosh, she's going to think you _are _insane," Emmett laughed.

**"You—" she gasped, and then broke off, appearing to be too furious to finish."**

"No, she's going to think he might ask her too," Alice laughed with him.

"**There it was—that same expression. I choked back another laugh. She was mad enough already.**

"**And I'm not pretending you don't exist," I finished. It was right to keep this casual, teasing. She would not understand if I let her see how I really felt. I would frighten her. I had to keep my feelings in check, keep things light…"**

"That's true," Jasper chuckled. "To know the depths of your love when she's thought for so long you can't stand her, it would terrify her."

**"So you **_**are **_**trying to irritate me to death? Since Tyler's van didn't do the job?"**

Edward growled at this.

"**A quick flash of anger pulsed through me. Could she honestly believe that?"**

"Probably not deep down," Esme assured him.

"**It was irrational for me to be so affronted—she didn't know of the transformation that had happened in the night." **

"And if she did she might be even more terrified," Emmett laughed.

"**But I was angry all the same."**

**"Bella, you are utterly absurd," I snapped."**

"Edward," Esme scowled at him. "That's no way to talk to the girl you _love_."

"**Her face flushed, and she turned her back on me. She began to walk away.**

**Remorse. I had no right to my anger."**

"Good," Esme approved, nodding.

**"Wait," I pleaded.**

**She did not stop, so I followed after her."**

"Your entire world literally is about her now," Rosalie mused. "I wonder if she has any inkling of this."

"Probably not, since she seems to think that it's strange all these other boys like her," Alice replied.

**"I'm sorry, that was rude. I'm not saying it isn't true" —it **_**was **_**absurd to imagine that I wanted her harmed in any way— "but it was rude to say it, anyway."**

"Remember Chapter One?" Emmett joked.

**"Why won't you leave me alone?"**

"Oh, Bella," Emmett chuckled.

"_**Believe me**_**, I wanted to say. **_**I've tried**_**.**

_**Oh, and also, I'm wretchedly in love with you."**_

"That'd be the most casual thing you could ever say," Alice giggled.

"**Keep it light."**

"Should we start a new drinking game?" Jasper joked now. "Instead of–or rather, including–_what is she thinking?_ we could include the newest _keep it light_ mantra."

**"I wanted to ask you something, but you sidetracked me." A course of action had just occurred to me, and I laughed.**

**"Do you have a multiple personality disorder?" she asked."**

Everyone laughed at this.

"It really must seem that way," Carlisle smiled. "Bella must be so confused."

"You must be the strangest person she's ever met," Rosalie chuckled.

"**It must seem that way. My mood was erratic, so many new emotions coursing through me."**

"Like looooove," Alice sang.

**"You're doing it again," I pointed out.**

**She sighed. "Fine then. What do you want to ask?"**

**"I was wondering if, a week from Saturday…" I watched the shock cross her face, and choked back another laugh. "You know, the day of the spring dance-"**

"_Edward,_" Esme chastised him.

Emmett was grinning anyway. "I want to see that, to be honest."

"**She cut me off, finally returning her eyes to mine. "Are you trying to be **_**funny**_**?"**

**Yes."**

Esme shook her head, annoyed at everyone's laughter.

**"Will you let me finish?"**

**She waited in silence, her teeth pressing into her soft lower lip.**

**That sight distracted me for a second."**

"Everything distracts you for a second," Emmett rolled his eyes.

"**Strange, unfamiliar reactions stirred deep in my forgotten human core." **

"Edward's thinking of kissing her," Alice smiled. "Adorable, isn't it Jazzy?"

"Yes, Alice," he chuckled.

"**I tried to shake them off so I could play my role.**

**"I heard you say that you were going to Seattle that day, and I was wondering if you wanted a ride?" I offered."**

"Alone in a car with her," Edward mused. "I can see how that would be appealing. A little dangerous maybe, but…"

"**I'd realized that, better than just questioning her about her plans, I might **_**share **_**them.**

**She stared at me blankly. "What?"**

**"Do you want a ride to Seattle?" Alone in a car with her—my throat burned at the thought. I took a deep breath. **_**Get used to it."**_

Jasper, Edward and Carlisle were still amazed by this.

**"With who?" she asked, her eyes wide and bewildered again.**

**"Myself, obviously," I said slowly.**

**"**_**Why?**_**"**

"She sounds so incredulous," Alice said. "Poor Bella. She literally has no idea you're in love with her, does she?"

"**Was it really such as shock that I would want her company? She must have applied the worst possible meaning to my past behaviour.**

**"Well," I said as casually as possible, "I was planning to go to Seattle in the next few weeks, and, to be honest, I'm not sure if your truck can make it."**

"Good, insult the truck," Rosalie approved. Esme shot her a glare.

"**It seemed safer to tease her than to allow myself to be serious.**

**"My truck works just fine, thank you very much for your concern," she said in the same surprised voice. She started walking again. I kept pace with her."**

"That's not really a _no_," Edward mused.

"I hope she says yes," Esme sighed. _The first of many yeses, hopefully._

"**She hadn't really said no, so I pressed that advantage.**

**Would she say no? What would I do if she did?"**

"She won't," Alice was assured of this. "I'm sure she won't."

"How sure are you?" Edward wondered.

"Really pretty sure," she giggled.

"So helpful," Edward rolled his eyes.

**"But can your truck make it there on one tank of gas?"**

"Just throw in a little boasting, why not," Emmett chuckled.

**"I don't see how that is any of your business," she grumbled.**

**That still wasn't a no. And her heart was beating faster again, her breath coming more quickly."**

"I think she might like him," Rosalie mused. "Not a lot, but the…oh I don't know, the _attraction _is there."

_I hope so, _Edward thought to himself.

**"The wasting of finite resources is everyone's business."**

**"Honestly, Edward, I can't keep up with you. I thought you didn't want to be my friend."**

**A thrill shot through me when she spoke my name."**

_Bow chicka wow wow, _Emmett thought, winking at Edward, his thoughts quickly spinning dirty fantasies before Edward could shut him out.

"**How to keep it light and yet be honest at the same time? Well, it was more important to be honest. Especially on this point.**

**"I said it would be better if we weren't friends, not that I didn't want to be."**

**"Oh, thanks, now that's **_**all **_**cleared up," she said sarcastically."**

"Poor Bella," Esme laughed.

"**She paused, under the edge of the cafeteria's roof, and met my gaze again. Her heartbeats stuttered. Was she afraid?"**

Rosalie shook her head as no.

"**I chose my words carefully. No, I could not leave her, but maybe she would be smart enough to leave me, before it was too late."**

"Such mixed signals everywhere," Rosalie rolled her eyes.

**"It would be more…**_**prudent **_**for you not to be my friend." Staring into the melted chocolate depths of her eyes, I lost my hold on **_**light**_**. "But I'm tired of trying to stay away from you, Bella." The words burned with much too much fervour."**

"That'll make her a little nervous," Alice chuckled.

"**Her breathing stopped and, in the second it took for it to restart, that worried me.**

**How much had I scared her? Well, I would find out.**

**"Will you go to Seattle with me?" I demanded, point blank.**

**She nodded, her heart drumming loudly."**

"That wasn't fear, then," Alice realised. "She was…stunned?"

_Turned on? _Emmett thought. Edward groaned.

"_**Yes**_**. She'd said yes to **_**me**_**."**

Esme beamed, thinking of another _yes _down the line. Edward rubbed his temples to not feel as hopeful as she did – because that was a big stretch. Not for him, but for her definitely.

"**And then my conscious smote me. What would this cost her?**

**"You really should stay away from me," I warned her. Did she hear me? Would she escape the future I was threatening her with? Couldn't I do anything to save her from **_**me**_**?"**

"You are so topsy-turvy!" Alice shuddered. "I pity myself. I pity you too, Jazz. We're going to be in hell."

"_**Keep it light**_**, I shouted at myself. "I'll see you in class."**

**I had to concentrate to stop myself from running as I fled."**

"That's the end of the chapter," Edward announced.

"Wow," was the general consensus.

"So," Emmett began, chuckling. "You're in love with Bella, huh? Remember when you thought that would _never _happen?"

"I know, Em. I'm an idiot."

"You really are," Rosalie agreed.

"I will," Carlisle said, taking the book from Edward.

"It's going to be odd, reading an entire chapter with Edward this way," Jasper mused.

"Well, get used to it. This is me, now," Edward smiled, thinking of Bella.

**A/N: GOD THIS CHAPTER IS LONG! I hope that this makes up for my absence, hahaha ;)**

**But anyway, honestly? I don't even know why this took so long for me to write. Maybe because Edward doesn't fall in love with her for**_** ages **_**in this chapter, so I think because I was so determined to reach the part where he does indeed fall in love with her, that when I actually got to the chapter it happens in, all my determination left me. Not to worry, the rest of the book gets even better now that he's in love and since I haven't written them before, I can't **_**wait **_**to :) **

**Leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll be back as soon as I can!**


	6. Chapter 6: Blood Type

**A/N: Now we venture into uncharted territory…lmao hi everyone. This is the first chapter of Midnight Sun that I haven't written before, so I'm pretty excited. Let's do this :) (Sorry for the long time between updates…my only defense is that I was working and then I couldn't get back into the swing of writing, but here I am now! Did you all think I'd pull a repeat of my last fic? Hahahahaha)**

**bananafox, the term **_**wanky **_**originates from Glee – Santana started saying it whenever somebody says something dirty/there's an innuendo of some sort in something someone says :)**

**To answer several of your guys' reviews at once, a lot of you are wondering what's gonna happen after I finish Midnight Sun. In the first chapter of this I said that SM would send the Cullens another book in a couple of weeks that is the companion to this one. Yes, that means that Twilight is on the cards. It's a little more work as it's a complete novel, but I'm thinking of stopping it say, just before or after the baseball game. Let me know what you think, but there's still a long way to go until then (my reason for stopping it is literally only because I don't think the Cullens should know their entire future – it would screw everything up!)**

**So no, I won't be doing New Moon, Eclipse or Breaking Dawn, but I might be doing over half of Twilight :) I also have already planned out the lead-up to Bella's arrival, and how her first day will go, so there's a little more than just the book readings to write.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Midnight Sun, nor any of the characters in it.**

Chapter Six: Blood Type

Carlisle took the book from Edward and began reading. **"Blood Type," **he began.

"Well," Edward frowned. "That doesn't sound good."

"Oh, _relax _Edward," Alice rolled her eyes, "it'll probably be blood typing in biology."

"That still isn't good," he shook his head. "If I'm there…"

"You won't be," Jasper said. "Even with your crazy control right now, Bella's spilled blood would be a totally different story."

"Exactly," Alice smiled at him. "There's nothing to worry about."

"I hope not," Edward murmured.

"**I followed her all day through other people's eyes, barely aware of my own surroundings."**

"Everyone's going to think you're crazy," Emmett chuckled. "Even more so than usual."

"We have perfect memories, Emmett," Rosalie sighed, "he's not going to bump into anything."

"I didn't mean _that, _although that would be pretty hilarious," he said. "I meant that he's not going to be looking at anyone or talking or anything. He'll be like Alice 2.0."

"**Not Mike Newton's eyes, because I couldn't stand any more of his offensive fantasies, and not Jessica Stanley's, because her resentment toward Bella made me angry in a way that was not safe for the petty girl." **

"Same here," Edward's eyes narrowed.

"You do realise that you're the same person, right?" Emmett said. "Of course you agree with yourself."

"Well, I'm right. Mike and Jessica are too rude to her. What if they were thinking those things about Rosalie, would you want to be in their head all the time?"

"No," Emmett agreed. "Definitely not."

"See?" Edward smirked.

"**Angela Weber was a good choice when her eyes were available; she was kind—her head was an easy place to be. And then sometimes it was the teachers who provided the best view. **

**I was surprised, watching her stumble through the day—tripping over cracks in the sidewalk, stray books, and, most often, her own feet—that the people I eavesdropped on thought of Bella as **_**clumsy**_**."**

"Well _finally_," Rosalie laughed. "It took you long enough to notice."

"**I considered that." **

"Edward," Esme laughed. "It's quite obvious that our Bella is clumsy. You shouldn't have to consider it."

"I've probably not paid much attention to her _feet_," Edward replied, rolling his eyes.

"What if she'd had webbed feet?" Emmett asked, totally serious.

"Then she'd be just like us," Edward shook his head, amused.

"I do not have webbed feet."

"Carlisle, please continue reading," Edward spoke over his brother, flashing him a grin.

"But I don't!" Emmett protested, but Carlisle had already begun.

"**It was true that she often had trouble staying upright. I remembered her stumbling into the desk that first day, sliding around on the ice before the accident, falling over the low lip of the doorframe yesterday… How odd, they were right."**

"It's not that odd," Jasper chuckled.

"Edward's just amazed that other people were right apart from him," Rosalie muttered.

"**She **_**was**_** clumsy."**

"Goodness," Alice laughed. "It certainly did take you a long time to come to this conclusion."

"He's the king of stubborn, remember," Emmett said matter-of-factly. "We really shouldn't be surprised that it takes him longer than most to come to the right conclusions."

"**I didn't know why this was so funny to me, but I laughed out loud as I walked from American History to English and several people shot me wary looks." **

"People _are _going to think you're insane," Jasper laughed hardly. "I'd love to see that."

"I'll have to deal with it," Emmett chuckled. "You will be dead to the world in Spanish class. How entertaining for me."

"You could do whatever you want to him and he might not notice," Rosalie murmured, smiling wickedly at Edward.

"I might just take you up on that, Rosie," Emmett grinned at her.

"**How had I never noticed this before? Perhaps because there was something very graceful about her in stillness, the way she held her head, the arch of her neck…"**

"Thinking about her neck, hmm?" Emmett joked.

"Not in that way," Edward sighed.

"It is _so _in that way," Rosalie raised an eyebrow. "What have you been doing this entire book? You love the smell of her blood. Of course you'd be looking at her neck. We're _vampires_."

"Rosalie is right," Carlisle said. "A bit blunt, but right nonetheless."

"**There was nothing graceful about her now. Mr. Varner watched as she caught the toe of her boot on the carpet and literally fell into her chair."**

"Literally," Jasper repeated. "She literally fell into her chair."

"She _literally _fell into her chair," Alice laughed, getting it. "Goodbye, Bella."

"I don't understand?" Edward asked, confused.

"She fell _into _her chair. I don't know, it was worded strangely. Disregard us, Carlisle," Alice waved her hand in an offhanded gesture.

"**I laughed again."**

"You shouldn't be laughing," Esme scolded them.

"I'm probably laughing at how silly it is of me to not have noticed this before now," Edward chuckled.

"Oh, you've noticed, but you only came to the conclusion that she is clumsy this chapter," Jasper smirked.

"**The time moved with incredible sluggishness while I waited for my chance to see her with my own eyes. Finally, the bell rang." **

"That's funny," Carlisle mused. "In the first chapter you were saved by the bell and got away from her, but in this chapter, you're waiting for the bell to save you so that you can go _to _her."

"That's not strange at all, Carlisle," Edward smiled. "I get what you mean, but I wasn't in love with her then."

"**I strode quickly to the cafeteria to secure my spot. I was one of the first there. I chose a table that was usually empty, and was sure to remain that way with me seated here."**

"We're such loners," Emmett grumbled in complaint.

"Emmett, if you really, really want to, make some new friends," Esme suggested, sighing, but amused.

"I want to be friends with Bella. I'll manage with one human friend," Emmett chuckled.

"**When my family entered and saw me sitting alone in a new place, they were not surprised. Alice must have warned them."**

"Of course I did," Alice beamed. "It's what I do best."

"**Rosalie stalked past me without a glance. **

_**Idiot**_**."**

Edward and Rosalie both cracked up laughing at this, while the rest of the Cullens looked at them uneasily.

"It's okay," Rosalie smiled at them, "like I've said before – my book self will be so confused and not understanding why Edward's behaving like this. _I _have a direct correlation to his thoughts, but my book self doesn't."

"**Rosalie and I had never had an easy relationship—I'd offended her the very first time she'd heard me speak, and it was downhill from there—but it seemed like she was even more ill-tempered than usual the last few days."**

Rosalie looked at Edward, who shrugged.

"You know I'm right," Edward said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah," Rose sighed.

"**I sighed. Rosalie made everything about herself."**

"No, not _everything,_" Emmett disagreed, "Alice does as well."

Alice poked her tongue out him, but didn't defend herself.

"**Jasper gave me half a smile as he walked by. **

_**Good luck**_**, he thought doubtfully."**

"Ever the optimist," Alice giggled. "Oh, Jazz."

"**Emmett rolled his eyes and shook his head. **

_**Lost his mind, poor kid."**_

"Goodness me, you all really are acting strangely," Esme shook her head.

"Like I've said already, we have a direct link to Edward's thoughts," Rosalie sighed.

"Not to mention we get to know Bella in this," Emmett said. "I bet we've only seen Bella from afar in the book."

"**Alice was beaming, her teeth shining too brightly. **

_**Can I talk to Bella **_**now**_**?"**_

"That's what you're all like right now," Carlisle chuckled. The rest of them laughed in agreement.

"**Keep out of it," I said under my breath. **

**Her face fell, and then brightened again. **

_**Fine. Be stubborn. It's only a matter of time."**_

Alice pouted. "I want to meet Bella _now _though. Stop hoarding her Edward!"

"We'll restrain him, Alice," Emmett smirked at him. "He can go off and hunt some mountain lions while we talk to her."

"It's too bad that we don't have anything to blackmail him with," Rose sighed.

"Like _that _would work," Edward muttered. "Leave me alone."

"Only if you promise that we'll _all _get to talk to Bella," Alice pointed at him. "It's not fair for us!"

"It's not fair for me too!" Edward protested. "I haven't even _met _her yet, and you're trying to take her from me!"

"Fine," Alice grumbled. "But as soon as you two have bonded it's _our _turn."

"What if you'd never met Jasper, Alice, and I told you that I was going to spend time with him before you."

"I get your point! But you still can't hoard her. She isn't an object."

"**I sighed again. **

_**Don't forget about today's biology lab, **_**she reminded me."**

"Ah," Edward nodded. "So you _were _right."

"She always is," Jasper smiled. "No reason to worry then."

"**I nodded. No, I hadn't forgotten that."**

"How could you forget such a thing as that?" Emmett chuckled. "It'd be a bit hard to."

"**While I waited for Bella to arrive, I followed her in the eyes of the freshman who was walking behind Jessica on his way to the cafeteria. Jessica was babbling about the upcoming dance, but Bella said nothing in response. Not that Jessica gave her much of a chance."**

"She doesn't care about the dance, remember?" Rosalie murmured, sounding a tad jealous.

"**The moment Bella walked through the door, her eyes flashed to the table where my siblings sat. She stared for a moment, and then her forehead crumpled and her eyes dropped to the floor. She hadn't noticed me here."**

"Confirmation!" Emmett shouted. "She _does _like you!"

"We sort of had that confirmed when she said yes to him earlier," Rosalie giggled at him.

"Yes but she's _sad _to not see him," Alice clapped excitedly. "Oh, the two of you are so adorable."

"**She looked so…**_**sad**_**. I felt a powerful urge to get up and go to her side, to comfort her somehow, only I didn't know what she would find comforting. I had no idea what made her look that way." **

"_Seriously?_" Jasper was dumbfounded. "You shouldn't need my power to realise why Bella is upset, Edward."

"**Jessica continued to jabber about the dance. Was Bella sad that she was going to miss it? That didn't seem likely…"**

"At least you understand _that_," Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"**But that could be remedied, if she wished."**

"You can't even touch her for fear of hurting her, or worse, yet you're entertaining the thought of taking her to a dance?" Carlisle wasn't disturbed, he was simply intrigued.

"Well, of course I would love to take her to a dance," Edward sighed. "Hopefully I'll be able to get closer to her soon."

"You will," Alice assured him. "You can breathe in her bedroom. That's insane progress."

"Don't fluff his ego up _too _much," Jasper muttered.

"**She bought a drink for her lunch and nothing else. Was that right? Didn't she need more nutrition than that? I'd never paid much attention to a human's diet before."**

"Really? _Never?_ You _never _have?" Rosalie grumbled.

"What, Rose?" Emmett asked her.

"I find it a little ridiculous that he's _never _paid any attention. You don't remember what you ate as a human?"

"Sure I do, but that was a long time ago," Edward said.

"Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and any snacks in between. The system is the same," Rosalie sighed. "You can be so irritating."

"**Humans were quite exasperatingly fragile! There were a million different things to worry about…"**

"Number one on that list being the fact that their blood smells so delicious that any vampire who gets near her would want to immediately kill her," Emmett joked.

"**Edward Cullen is staring at you again," I heard Jessica say. "I wonder why he's sitting alone today?" **

"Finally, Jessica says something useful," Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"**I was grateful to Jessica—though she was even more resentful now—because Bella's head snapped up and her eyes searched until they met mine."**

"She _does _like him," Esme smiled happily.

"**There was no trace of sadness in her face now." **

"Surely that is not the case," Edward frowned.

"Seriously!?" Alice almost threw herself at him in frustration. "She does! That shouldn't be such a shock!"

"It'll mean that I won't leave her alone…"

"…Which would be a bad thing, because…?"

Edward stared at her for a while, before saying, "Don't worry about it."

"Keep your ridiculous secrets then," Alice shook her head. "But Bella likes you, Edward. Obviously not as much as you like her, but enough."

"**I let myself hope that she'd been sad because she'd thought I'd left school early, and that hope made me smile. I motioned with my finger for her to join me. She looked so startled by this that I wanted to tease her again."**

"You like teasing her, huh?" Emmett found this amusing. Edward tuned out of his thoughts.

"**So I winked, and her mouth fell open.**

"**Does he mean **_**you**_**?" Jessica asked rudely.**

"**Maybe he needs help with his Biology homework," she said in a low, uncertain voice. "Um, I'd better go see what he wants." **

**This was another yes."**

"I hope she doesn't mean that literally," Jasper laughed. "Otherwise she's not going to have any idea how much you love her."

"**She stumbled twice on her way to my table, though there was nothing in her way but perfectly even linoleum. Seriously, how **_**had**_** I missed this before?" **

"A good question," Edward chuckled.

"**I'd been paying more attention to her silent thoughts, I supposed… What else had I missed?"**

"I hope not a lot," he frowned.

"We don't know a lot about her, actually," Alice disagreed. "I wish Jasper would at least be there, so we could know her emotions."

"_**Keep it honest, keep it light**_**, I chanted to myself."**

"Someone drink," Emmett joked.

"**She stopped behind the chair across from me, hesitating. I inhaled deeply, through my nose this time rather than my mouth."**

Edward's mouth fell open, still not over him being able to do that.

"Wow," Jasper said, impressed.

"You find everything he does like that impressing," Emmett chuckled.

"Well, yes," Edward agreed. "In the first chapter I was literally almost about to kill her. Now I can breathe normally."

"_**Feel the burn**_**, I thought dryly."**

Emmett laughed, acting totally sarcastic. "What a joke! Oh, what a knee-slapper! You got me there, oh you got me there! I can't breathe!"

"Shut up Emmett," Edward rolled his eyes.

"**Why don't you sit with me today?" I asked her. **

**She pulled the chair out and sat, staring at me the whole while. She seemed nervous, but her physical acceptance was yet another yes."**

"It's a good thing she's nervous," Carlisle approved.

"Thanks, Carlisle," Edward joked.

"No, I just meant that…well she acts differently from all the other humans. That she's nervous is a good sign."

"A good sign that she's not messed up in the head?" Rosalie's eyebrows rose in amusement.

"She's probably nervous because she's sitting with the boy she likes," Alice giggled.

"**I waited for her to speak.**

**It took a moment, but, finally, she said, "This is different."**

"That's an understatement," Jasper chuckled.

"**Well…" I hesitated. "I decided as long as I was going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly."**

Emmett blinked in confusion. "What does _that _mean?"

"It's Edward, he never makes sense. Don't worry about it," Rosalie neatly dodged the pillow that came flying her way, smirking.

"**What had made me say that? I supposed it was honest, at least. And perhaps she'd hear the unsubtle warning my words implied. Maybe she would realize that she should get up and walk away as quickly as possible…"**

"You're so weird," Alice sighed.

"**She didn't get up. She stared at me, waiting, as if I'd left my sentence unfinished."**

"Bella has no idea what you just said, either," Emmett said proudly.

"**You know I don't have any idea what you mean," she said when I didn't continue. **

**That was a relief. I smiled."**

"If I have to deal with you and all these new mixed signals, I am going to scream," Alice muttered.

"**I know." **

**It was hard to ignore the thoughts screaming at me from behind her back—and I wanted to change the subject anyway. **

"**I think your friends are angry at me for stealing you." **

**This did not appear to concern her. "They'll survive."**

"I want to be friends with her very badly," Emmett sighed unhappily. "She's so entertaining."

"**I may not give you back, though." I didn't even know if I was trying to be honest now, or just trying to tease her again. Being near her made it hard to make sense of my own thoughts."**

"First love," Esme smiled.

"**Bella swallowed loudly. **

**I laughed at her expression. "You look worried." It really **_**shouldn't**_** be funny…She should worry."**

"So it's fine for _you _to love her, but God forbid she returns your love," Rosalie sighed, annoyed.

"I don't think that is what I meant," Edward said.

"She means that you are thinking all of these things that all contradict each other. I agree with Rose. You need to calm down," Alice shook her head.

"**No." She was a bad liar; it didn't help that her voice broke. "Surprised, actually…. What brought this on?" **

"He fell in looooove," Emmett sang jokingly.

"**I told you," I reminded her. "I got tired of trying to stay away from you. So I'm giving up." I held my smile in place with a bit of effort. This wasn't working at all—trying to be honest and casual at the same time."**

"I wonder if she has any idea how much you love her," Esme mused.

"She couldn't," Edward said. "Maybe an inkling. But she'll never know just how much," he sighed, wistful.

"**Giving up?" she repeated, baffled. **

"**Yes—giving up trying to be good." And, apparently, giving up trying to be casual. "I'm just going to do what I want now, and let the chips fall where they may." That was honest enough. Let her see my selfishness. Let that warn her, too."**

"I bet Bella has literally no idea what you're talking about," Emmett chuckled.

"**You lost me again." **

**I was selfish enough to be glad that this was the case. "I always say too much when I'm talking to you—that's one of the problems."**

"Not a very important problem, considering," Edward murmured.

"**A rather insignificant problem, compared to the rest."**

"You're in agreement for once," Jasper laughed.

"**Don't worry," she reassured me. "I don't understand any of it."**

**Good. Then she'd stay. "I'm counting on that."**

"God, your thoughts are so topsy-turvy, Edward," Alice groaned.

"**So, in plain English, are we friends now?" **

**I pondered that for a second. "Friends…" I repeated. I didn't like the sound of that. It wasn't enough.**

"You're going to Seattle or whatever with her, right?" Emmett shrugged. "That counts as a date. You can think you're dating."

"I'm sure Bella wouldn't mind, either," Esme grinned at Edward, her eyes shining happily.

"**Or not," she mumbled, looking embarrassed.**

"Wow," Jasper raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Bella really has no idea that Edward loves her."

"For how observant she is, she's not that observant when it comes to things like this," Rosalie sighed. "But we already knew that."

"**Did she think I didn't like her that much? **

**I smiled. "Well, we can try, I suppose. But I'm warning you now that I'm not a good friend for you."**

**I waited for her response, torn in two—wishing she would finally hear and understand, thinking I might die if she did." **

"Adorable," Alice giggled.

"**How melodramatic. I was turning into such a human."**

"Which is adorable," Alice repeated. Edward rolled his eyes.

"**Her heart beat faster. "You say that a lot."**

"I wonder if she'll figure out that we're vampires," Emmett said quietly.

"She will," Alice shrugged. "If she doesn't figure it out on herself, then we'll end up telling her probably."

Edward frowned. "I hope none of you would do that."

"Why _wouldn't _we?" Jasper smirked. "If we see that you're having too much trouble, we'll probably take her aside and let her know."

"I don't think she'd take it that well if you and Em took her aside," Rosalie laughed. "It'll have to be Alice. Or me. Or both of us."

"**Yes, because you're not listening to me," I said, too intense again. "I'm still waiting for you to believe it. If you're smart, you'll avoid me." **

**Ah, but would I allow her to do that, if she tried?"**

"God, Edward," Alice rolled her eyes, "_why _bother telling her this if you don't want her to go away?"

"**Her eyes tightened. "I think you've made your opinion on the subject of my intellect clear, too."**

**I wasn't exactly sure what she meant, but I smiled in apology, guessing that I must have offended her accidentally."**

"At least you have _some _manners left," Esme grumbled.

"**So," she said slowly. "As long as I'm being…not smart, we'll try to be friends?"**

"Yes," Emmett nodded.

"You're both insane," Rosalie rolled her eyes. "I guess that makes you perfect for each other."

"**That sounds about right." **

**She looked down, staring intently at the lemonade bottle in her hands.**

**The old curiosity tormented me. **

"**What are you thinking?" I asked—it was a relief to say the words out loud at last."**

"_Yes,_" Edward said approvingly. "Finally, I'll get an answer to this."

"She might lie," Jasper pondered.

"She might indeed," Edward sighed.

"I don't think she's a very good liar," Alice shook her head. "But, we'll see."

"**She met my gaze, and her breathing sped while her cheeks flushed faint pink. I inhaled, tasting that in the air."**

Edward still found this amazing, but he didn't comment on it for once.

"**I'm trying to figure out what you are." **

Edward's eyes widened now, staring at the book in Carlisle's hands in shock.

"Well," Rosalie commented. "She was very direct about that, huh?"

"I wonder if she's come at all close to something vampiric," Carlisle wondered aloud.

"Would that really be a good thing, though? For her to find out we're vampires? She might be terrified," Emmett asked, genuinely curious.

"She _should _be terrified," Edward agreed, "but something tells me she might not be. But who knows?"

"We'll find out eventually," Alice waved her hand at this. "If only I was in this story. I could tell us if she would or wouldn't be."

"**I held the smile on my face, locking my features that way, while panic twisted throughout my body.**

**Of course she was wondering that. She wasn't stupid. I couldn't hope for her to be oblivious to something so obvious."**

"Well, you can _hope, _but…" Emmett trailed off, amused.

"**Are you having any luck with that?" I asked as lightly as I could manage. **

"**Not too much," she admitted."**

"Good," Edward sighed in relief. "At least we won't have to worry about this for the time being."

"Well, she'll find out one way or another," Rosalie murmured.

"**I chuckled in sudden relief. "What are your theories?"**

**They couldn't be worse than the truth, no matter what she'd come up with. Her cheeks turned brighter red, and she said nothing." **

"She's embarrassed by her theories," Jasper found this hilarious. "I can only imagine what she's thinking of."

"Superheroes?" Emmett guessed.

"Exactly!" And then the two of them burst into roaring laughter.

"Well, we're _sort _of like superheroes," Edward defended himself.

"Because you wear a suit and mask," Rosalie smirked at him.

"**I could feel the warmth of her blush in the air."**

"Or perhaps you're listening a bit too closely to me," Jasper grinned at him.

"**I tried using my persuasive tone on her. It worked well on normal humans."**

"'Normal humans', huh?" Emmett laughed again. "Well, I guess she isn't that normal."

"**Won't you tell me?" I smiled encouragingly. **

**She shook her head. "Too embarrassing." **

"I knew it," Jasper said smugly.

"Yes honey, we all know you're the best at everything," Alice said patronisingly. Emmett didn't pick up on this tone and looked outraged.

"**Ugh. Not knowing was worse than anything else. Why would her speculations embarrass her? I couldn't stand not knowing."**

"Because she thinks you're a superhero!" Emmett and Jasper shouted in unison.

"**That's **_**really**_** frustrating, you know." **

**My complaint sparked something in her. Her eyes flashed and her words flowed more swiftly than usual. **

"**No, I can't **_**imagine**_** why that would be frustrating at all—just because someone refuses to tell you what they're thinking," **

"Welcome to _our _world," Rosalie grumbled.

"**even if all the while they're making cryptic little remarks specifically designed to keep you up at night wondering what they could possibly mean…now, why would that be frustrating?" **

"Oh Bella," Esme laughed.

"She has a temper, Edward," Emmett chuckled. "I hope you can handle her."

"**I frowned at her, upset to realize that she was right. I wasn't being fair."**

"No you are not," Rosalie agreed.

"**She went on. "Or better, say that person also did a wide range of bizarre things—from saving your life under impossible circumstances one day to treating you like a pariah the next, and he never explained any of that either, even after he promised. That, also, would be **_**very**_** non-frustrating." **

"Bella does have a point," Edward conceded, sighing.

"Of course she does," Carlisle agreed. "She's Bella."

"If she knew you were a vampire you wouldn't _have _to keep all of this a secret," Alice murmured. "I'm just saying."

"**It was the longest speech I'd ever heard her make, and it gave me a new quality for my list. **

"**You've got a bit of a temper, don't you?" **

"**I don't like double standards." **

"Really, Bella, who _does _like double standards?" Rosalie smirked.

"**She was completely justified in her irritation, of course."**

"Of _course _she is," Emmett chuckled again. "You're defending her without even realising it. She has you by the leash."

"**I stared at Bella, wondering how I could possibly do anything right by her, until the silent shouting in Mike Newton's head distracted me."**

"Silent shouting, huh?" Emmett frowned, and began trying to do just that.

"Just ignore him," Rosalie said when everyone stopped to stare at him in confusion and amusement. "He'll be like that for a while."

"**He was so irate that it made me chuckle. **

"**What?" she demanded."**

"And now she thinks you're laughing at her," Esme rolled her eyes. "Poor girl."

"**Your boyfriend seems to think I'm being unpleasant to you—he's debating whether or not to come break up our fight." I would love to see him try. I laughed again."**

"_Boyfriend,_ Edward? _Seriously?_" Rosalie sighed. "You're so immature sometimes."

"**I don't know who you're talking about," she said in an icy voice. "But I'm sure you're wrong anyway." **

Edward smiled widely at this.

"**I very much enjoyed the way she disowned him with her dismissive sentence." **

"I agree," Edward nodded.

"**I'm not. I told you, most people are easy to read." **

"**Except me, of course." **

"Of course," Edward rolled his eyes, but he was smiling nonetheless.

"**Yes. Except for you." Did she have to be the exception to everything?"**

"It makes her awesome, so yeah," Emmett jumped in.

"**Wouldn't it have been more fair—considering everything else I had to deal with now—if I could have at least heard **_**something**_** from her head? Was that so much to ask?" **

"Apparently," Jasper smirked. "This is very enjoyable, watching you not get something for once."

"Thanks, Jasper," Edward rolled his eyes.

"**I wonder why that is?" **

"A very good question indeed," Carlisle murmured. "I would like to meet her for myself."

"We all will," Alice sighed, "soon."

"**I stared into her eyes, trying again…"**

"I don't think that is going to work," Emmett muttered. "You can't hypnotise her into telling you her thoughts."

"You never know," Edward muttered. "But I agree, it's a bit of a longshot." _We can't exactly _hypnotise _people, anyway._

"**She looked away. She opened her lemonade and took a quick drink, her eyes on the table.**

"**Aren't you hungry?" I asked. **

"**No." She eyed the empty table between us. "You?"**

"Well, at least she doesn't think you're a cannibal or anything, right?" Emmett smirked.

"That's not very funny," Edward sighed.

"Vampires aren't too far off from cannibals," Emmett frowned, defending himself.

"By that logic, vampires aren't too far off from zombies, either," Edward shook his head. "We don't _eat _flesh. That's…"

"If you say 'gross', I'm going to flip every table in this house," Jasper smirked.

"**No, I'm not hungry," I said. I was definitely not that."**

"Well, a _little _bit," Jasper said. Edward threw up his hands in frustration.

"**She stared at the table, her lips pursed. I waited."**

"For what?" Emmett was bewildered by this.

"For whatever you like, Emmett," Rosalie patted his hand.

"**Could you do me a favour?" she asked, suddenly meeting my gaze again. **

**What would she want from me? Would she ask for the truth that I wasn't allowed to tell her—the truth I didn't want her to ever, ever know?"**

"But secretly, deep-down truly _do _want her to know?" Alice whispered. Everybody smirked.

"**That depends on what you want." **

"**It's not much," she promised. **

**I waited, curious again. **

"**I just wondered…" she said slowly, staring at the lemonade bottle, tracing its lip with her littlest finger. "If you could warn me beforehand the next time you decide to ignore me for my own good? Just so I'm prepared." **

"She doesn't like being ignored by Edward," Alice sang, happy. "Amazing."

"It's hardly amazing," Rosalie rolled her eyes, "we've known for a while now that Bella must like him."

"It's good for Edward to finally have concrete proof, though," Alice looked at Edward as she said this.

"You call this concrete?" Edward frowned.

"As much as you're going to get until you finally start…dating? Telling her how you feel? Anything that will progress your relationship," Alice smiled.

"**She wanted a warning? Then being ignored by me must be a bad thing… I smiled. **

"**That sounds fair," I agreed."**

"I bet you won't stick to that," Emmett said. "You didn't promise, anyway."

"And promises are for life, right Emmett?" Jasper said, teasing.

"Right." Emmett nodded determinedly. Jasper stifled his laughter.

"**Thanks," she said, looking up. Her face was so relieved that I wanted to laugh with my own relief. **

"**Then can I have one in return?" I asked hopefully. **

"**One," she allowed. **

"**Tell me **_**one**_** theory." **

**She flushed. "Not that one." **

"**You didn't qualify, you just promised one answer," I argued."**

"God, you're both so stubborn!" Rosalie threw up her hands. "This is going to be absolute torture when she finally arrives here, you mark my words."

"**And you've broken promises yourself," she argued back."**

"Burn," Emmett laughed.

"**She had me there."**

"She has you everywhere," Emmett smirked at him.

"**Just one theory—I won't laugh."**

"**Yes, you will." She seemed very sure of that, though I couldn't imagine anything that would be funny about it."**

"It's a superhero, it is," Jasper approved.

"You should just say 'yes' and see how long you can roll with it," Emmett chuckled.

"**I gave persuasion another try. I stared deep into her eyes—an easy thing to do, with eyes so deep—and whispered, "Please?" **

Edward sighed, trying to picture her eyes. _This isn't fair._

Sensing his sadness, Jasper looked over at Edward and thought, _Don't worry, man. You're going to see her soon. You'll get to stare into her eyes for as long as-well, for as long as _she _likes._

Edward rolled his eyes.

"**She blinked, and her face went blank."**

"You _hypnotised _her!" Emmett clapped a hand over his mouth.

"No, probably just stunned her," Alice laughed, her voice taking on a teasing tone. "He's just so _beautiful! _I can't bear it!"

"**Well, that wasn't exactly the reaction I'd been going for."**

"Ha," Emmett smirked.

"**Er, what?" she asked. She looked dizzy. What was wrong with her?"**

"Your beauty is blinding her," Carlisle commented, hiding his smile.

"Seriously?" Edward's eyebrows shot up.

"No, but it's still funny to imagine that that is the case."

"**But I wasn't giving up yet.**

"**Please tell me just one little theory," I pleaded in my soft, non-scary voice, holding her eyes in mine."**

"That sounds adorable," Alice smiled slightly. "Weird, considering the context, but adorable nonetheless."

"**To my surprise and satisfaction, it finally worked."**

"Thank heavens," Edward was relieved.

"**Um, well, bitten by a radioactive spider?" **

"I _knew _it," Jasper grinned.

"Yes, Edward is actually Spider-Man," Alice laughed.

"Hey, spiders are creepy. Bella's justified on this," Emmett chuckled.

"**Comic books? No wonder she thought I would laugh.**

"**That's not very creative," I chided her, trying to hide my fresh relief."**

"Hey, it _is _pretty creative," Edward muttered.

"**I'm sorry, that's all I've got," she said, offended."**

"That's good then," Edward said, relieved.

"**This relieved me even more. I was able to tease her again."**

"You two little cuties," Alice sighed happily.

"**You're not even close." **

"So you're encouraging her now?" Jasper shook his head in amusement.

"**No spiders?" **

"**Nope." **

"**And no radioactivity?" **

"**None." **

"**Dang," she sighed.**

"Bites, though," Rosalie said.

"**Kryptonite doesn't bother me either," I said quickly—before she could ask about **_**bites**_**—"**

"Good call," Rosalie nodded in approval.

"**and then I had to laugh, because she thought I was a superhero."**

"It's amazing," Jasper smirked.

"**You're not supposed to laugh, remember?**

"God, Edward," Emmett shook his head, grinning.

"**I pressed my lips together.**

"**I'll figure it out eventually," she promised.**

**And when she did, she would run."**

"No need to sound so creepy," Alice sighed.

"Well, we drink blood. That's pretty creepy," Rosalie muttered.

"Is that _Rosalie? _Defending _Edward?_" Emmett said, teasingly shocked.

"**I wish you wouldn't try," I said, all teasing gone. **

"**Because…?" **

**I owed her honesty. Still, I tried to smile, to make my words sound less threatening. "What if I'm not a superhero? What if I'm the bad guy?" **

"_Be _more creepy, I dare you," Emmett shook his head again.

"Don't encourage him, Emmett," Esme laughed.

"**Her eyes widened by a fraction and her lips fell slightly apart. "Oh," she said. And then, after another second, "I see."**

"Does she, though?" Rosalie murmured.

"**She'd finally heard me."**

"It's about time she did," Edward sighed, unhappy.

"**Do you?" I asked, working to conceal my agony. **

"**You're dangerous?" she guessed. Her breathing hiked, and her heart raced."**

Edward hung his head, not particularly wanting to hear what would happen next.

"**I couldn't answer her. Was this my last moment with her? Would she run now? Could I be allowed to tell her that I loved her before she left?" **

"If she was that frightened of you, I think that telling her you love her would only terrify her even more," Alice said.

"**Or would that frighten her more?"**

"And you agree with me," Alice said, laughing quietly.

"**But not bad," she whispered, shaking her head, no fear in her clear eyes. "No, I don't believe that you're bad." **

Esme smiled widely at this. _I knew I would love her._

"She wouldn't be saying that if she knew what has almost happened to her five hundred million times," Edward murmured.

"**You're wrong," I breathed. **

**Of course I was bad. Wasn't I rejoicing now, that she thought better of me than I deserved?" **

"How on earth does that make you bad?" Rosalie asked, disbelieving.

"**If I were a good person, I would have stayed away from her. I stretched my hand across the table, reaching for the lid to her lemonade bottle as an excuse. She did not flinch away from my suddenly closer hand. She really was not afraid of me. Not yet."**

"Your thoughts are bugging me so much," Alice muttered. _Bella might be right – you might actually have a multiple personality disorder, Edward._

"**I spun the lid like a top, watching it instead of her. My thoughts were in a snarl. **_**Run, Bella, run.**_** I couldn't make myself say the words out loud."**

_See? _Alice sighed, annoyed.

"**She jumped to her feet." **

Edward blinked in surprise.

"**We're going to be late," she said, just as I'd started to worry that she'd somehow heard my silent warning."**

Edward relaxed now, having also thought the same thing.

"**I'm not going to class." **

"**Why not?" **

_**Because I don't want to kill you**_**." **

"I wonder what she'd have done if you'd said that," Emmett said. Edward wasn't amused.

"**It's healthy to ditch class now and then." **

"Don't be telling her things like that!" Esme shook her head. "Honestly, Edward."

"**To be precise, it was healthier for the humans if the vampires ditched on days when human blood would be spilt. Mr. Banner was blood typing today. Alice had already ditched her morning class."**

"I was indeed right," Alice beamed.

"You knew that, though," Edward replied.

"Yeah, but it's nice to have it actually confirmed."

"**Well, I'm going," she said. This didn't surprise me. She was responsible—she always did the right thing. **

**She was my opposite."**

"You do the right thing as well," Esme assured him.

"Yeah, you didn't kill Bella," Emmett said helpfully.

"Thanks, Emmett," Edward rolled his eyes.

"**I'll see you later then," I said, trying for casual again, staring down at the whirling lid. **_**And, by the way, I adore you…in frightening, dangerous ways."**_

"So casual," Jasper commented. Emmett cracked a grin.

"**She hesitated, and I hoped for a moment that she would stay with me after all. But the bell rang and she hurried away."**

"Hurry, Bella, hurry," Emmett whispered dramatically.

"**I waited until she was gone, and then I put the lid in my pocket—a souvenir of this most consequential conversation—and walked through the rain to my car. **

**I put on my favourite calming CD—the same one I'd listened to that first day—but I wasn't hearing Debussy's notes for long. Other notes were running through my head, a fragment of a tune that pleased and intrigued me. I turned down the stereo and listened to the music in my head, playing with the fragment until it evolved into a fuller harmony. Instinctively, my fingers moved in the air over imaginary piano keys." **

"Ten bucks says that this new 'inspiration' came because of Bella," Emmett declared.

"Of course it is, Emmett," Jasper said. "That's not a very difficult bet. You know you'll win."

"It's reassuring, definitely."

"I wonder what it sounds like?" Edward asked nobody in particular, his mind racing to try and work out what it might sound like – but of course, he couldn't know. He'd have to wait.

"**The new composition was really coming along when my attention was caught by a wave of mental anguish."**

"I wonder if it's Bella," Rosalie said sarcastically.

"**I looked toward the distress. **

_**Is she going to pass out? What do I do?**_** Mike panicked. **

**A hundred yards away, Mike Newton was lowering Bella's limp body to the sidewalk. She slumped unresponsively against the wet concrete, her eyes closed, her skin chalky as a corpse."**

Rosalie blinked. _Well, I wasn't being serious…_

Edward was glaring at the book in Carlisle's hands now, furious and worried, causing Jasper to have to subtly calm him down.

"**I almost took the door off the car."**

"I see you both are on the same page then," Alice said quietly, looking at her brother in concern. _Well, now you know what would happen if you did kill her, Edward._

Edward turned and fixed his glare on her, but she held her ground. Carlisle kept reading, trying to keep everyone calm in his doctor voice.

"**Bella?" I shouted. **

**There was no change in her lifeless face when I yelled her name. **

**My whole body went colder than ice. **

**I was aware of Mike's aggravated surprise as I sifted furiously through his thoughts. He was only thinking of his anger toward me, so I didn't know what was wrong with Bella. If he'd done something to harm her, I would annihilate him."**

"I wholeheartedly second that," Edward growled.

"**What's wrong—is she hurt?" I demanded, trying to focus his thoughts. It was maddening to have to walk at a human pace. I should not have called attention to my approach.**

**Then I could hear her heart beating and her even breath." **

"Well, she's not dead," Emmett joked. Edward turned and glared at _him _then.

"**As I watched, she squeezed her eyes more tightly shut. That eased some of my panic.**

**I saw a flicker of memories in Mike's head, a splash of images from the Biology room. Bella's head on our table, her fair skin turning green. Drops of red against the white cards… **

**Blood typing."**

"Uh oh," Alice whispered.

"**I stopped where I was, holding my breath. Her scent was one thing, her flowing blood was another altogether.**

"**I think she's fainted," Mike said, anxious and resentful at the same time. "I don't know what happened, she didn't even stick her finger."**

"Phew," Emmett whistled.

"I'm sure if she had pricked her finger, Edward would have smelled that very easily," Jasper said, almost trying to convince himself of this fact.

"**Relief washed through me, and I breathed again, tasting the air. Ah, I could smell the tiny flow of Mike Newton's puncture wound. Once, that might have appealed to me." **

"Once," Carlisle said, amazed yet again.

"It is pretty crazy," Emmett agreed.

"I doubt that if I had Bella with me at all times the desire for other people's blood would dissipate," Edward frowned. "But it is still amazing that her scent can do this."

"The Volturi have this theory of a _singer, _someone whose blood is so potent that it's almost like their blood is singing to that vampire," Carlisle murmured. "Bella might be your singer, Edward."

"_Might _be? I think it's quite clear that she is," Edward replied swiftly. _La tua cantante._

"**I knelt beside her while Mike hovered next to me, furious at my intervention. **

"**Bella. Can you hear me?" **

"**No," she moaned. "Go away." **

"She's okay," Edward grinned, amused by this.

"**The relief was so exquisite that I laughed. She was fine. **

"**I was taking her to the nurse," Mike said. "But she wouldn't go any farther." **

"**I'll take her. You can go back to class," I said dismissively."**

"I imagine that you'd _love _that," Emmett joked. Edward nodded vehemently.

**Mike's teeth clenched together. "No. I'm supposed to do it."**

"He's stubborn as well," Rosalie smirked.

"Perhaps just when it comes to Bella," Edward disagreed.

_Well, of course you'd say that, king of stubborn, _Emmett thought.

"**I wasn't going to stand around arguing with the wretch. **

**Thrilled and terrified, half-grateful to and half-aggrieved by the predicament which made touching her a necessity, I gently lifted Bella from the sidewalk and held her in my arms, touching only her clothes, keeping as much distance between our bodies as possible." **

"You're _carrying _her?" Rosalie's eyebrows shot up.

"How sweet," Alice giggled.

"**I was striding forward in the same movement, in a hurry to have her safe—farther away from me, in other words. **

**Her eyes popped open, astonished."**

"We're right there with you, Bella," Emmett laughed.

"**Put me down," she ordered in a weak voice—embarrassed again, I guessed from her expression. She didn't like to show weakness."**

"And from the fact that the boy she likes is _carrying _her," Esme smiled.

"**I barely heard Mike's shouted protest behind us."**

"Yet you still felt the need to address it," Jasper commented.

"**You look awful," I told her, grinning because there was nothing wrong with her but a light head and a weak stomach. **

"**Put me back on the sidewalk," she said. Her lips were white."**

"Staring at her lips again?" Emmett laughed loudly.

"**So you faint at the sight of blood?" Could it get any more ironic?"**

"The vampire and the human who hates blood," Rosalie grinned.

"**She closed her eyes and pressed her lips together. **

"**And not even your own blood," I added, my grin widening.**

**We were to the front office. The door was propped an inch open, and I kicked it out of my way."**

"She's going to think you're a superhero again, with the way you described that," Alice laughed.

"**Ms. Cope jumped, startled. "Oh, my," she gasped as she examined the ashen girl in my arms. **

"**She fainted in Biology," I explained, before her imagination could get too out of hand."**

"Somehow I don't think she was thinking that you killed her," Rosalie said. Everyone cracked a grin.

"**Ms. Cope hurried to open the door to the nurse's office. Bella's eyes were open again, watching her. I heard the elderly nurse's internal astonishment as I laid the girl carefully on the one shabby bed. As soon as Bella was out of my arms, I put the width of the room between us. My body was too excited, too eager, my muscles tense and the venom flowing. She was so warm and fragrant."**

"Wanky," Emmett said casually. Edward sighed loudly.

"**She's just a little faint," I reassured Mrs. Hammond. "They're blood typing in biology." **

**She nodded, understanding now. "There's always one." **

"Which explains why this time it was Bella," Edward muttered.

"**I stifled a laugh. Trust Bella to be that one."**

"Why are you finding this funny?" Esme wondered.

"Because Bella is not only the exception to every rule, but also that she_ faints _at the sight of blood," Emmett said for him.

"He's right," Edward shrugged. "It's a bit funny, given our situation."

"**Just lie down for a minute, honey," Mrs. Hammond said. "It'll pass." **

"**I know," Bella said. **

"**Does this happen often?" The nurse asked. **

"**Sometimes," Bella admitted."**

"Poor Bella," Esme sighed, concerned.

"**I tried to disguise my laughter as coughing."**

"Edward," Esme scolded him.

"**This brought me to the nurse's attention. "You can go back to class now," she said.**

**I looked her straight in the eye and lied with perfect confidence. "I'm supposed to stay with her." **

_**Hmm. I wonder… oh well.**_** Mrs. Hammond nodded."**

"I don't like that you do that," Esme sighed.

"Well, we all do," Emmett said helpfully. Everybody groaned.

"**It worked just fine on her. Why did Bella have to be so difficult?"**

"It's because she's _Bella,_" Alice laughed.

"**I'll go get you some ice for your forehead, dear," the nurse said, slightly uncomfortable from looking into my eyes—the way a human **_**should**_** be—and left the room."**

"I think Bella just looks past that because she likes you," Rosalie said casually, shrugging. Edward looked at her in shock, but didn't say anything.

"**You were right," Bella moaned, closing her eyes. **

**What did she mean? I jumped to the worst conclusion: she'd accepted my warnings. **

"**I usually am," I said," **

Everybody rolled their eyes at this.

"**trying to keep the amusement in my voice; it sounded sour now. "But about what in particular this time?" **

"**Ditching is healthy," she sighed. **

**Ah, relief again."**

"You're so stuck on the idea that Bella might run screaming the second she finds out you're a vampire," Alice muttered. "I don't think she'll do that at all. _And _if you'd let me befriend her, I'd get to find out for sure whether she likes you or not, and just how much." _Not to mention I'd get to paint her nails and braid her hair and go shopping with her and…_

Edward tuned her out then.

"**She was silent then. She just breathed slowly in and out. Her lips were beginning to turn pink. Her mouth was slightly out of balance, her lower lip just a little too full to match the top. Staring at her mouth made me feel strange." **

_Wanky, _Emmett thought again, winking at Edward.

"**Made me want to move closer to her, which was not a good idea."**

_And do what, hmm? _Emmett's grin was growing wider and wider.

"**You scared me for a minute there," I said—to restart the conversation so that I could hear her voice again." **

"Awww," Esme smiled.

"That's _so _adorable," Emmett said seriously, trying to imitate the girls' tones when they said things like that. Edward shook his head, sighing.

"**I thought Newton was dragging your dead body off to bury it in the woods." **

"**Ha ha," she said."**

"That's not that funny," Edward said.

"Yeah, Bella – I tell _way _better jokes than that," Emmett smirked at him.

"**Honestly—I've seen corpses with better colour." **

"That's a casual thing to say," Jasper said. "What's your mantra? _Keep it light? _How is that _light?_"

"I think that that mantra refers to my feelings about her, not…corpses," Edward replied.

"**This was actually true. "I was concerned that I might have to avenge your murder." And I would have."**

"Well of course," Edward nodded.

"Especially if Mike was the one who murdered her," Emmett chuckled.

"**Poor Mike," she sighed. "I'll bet he's mad."**

Everybody burst out laughing at this, looking at Edward's outraged expression.

"**Fury pulsed through me, but I contained it quickly." **

"Oh I wish you wouldn't have done that," Rosalie grinned. "It would have been hilarious to see what Bella thought of your sudden anger."

"Hilarious? I would have been laughing for days," Emmett clapped, grinning at Edward.

_Oh re-_lax _Edward,_ Alice thought to him. _She's just a kind person. It doesn't mean she likes him._

"Of course she likes him," Edward muttered. "He's her friend."

"Yes, he is," Alice agreed. "There's no reason to get jealous." _If only we could know her thoughts, though…_

"**Her concern was surely just pity. She was kind. That was all."**

"Even your book self agrees with me," Alice murmured smugly, patting herself on the back. "I'm great."

Edward rolled his eyes, but he had a slight smile on his face which even he was surprised at. _So many mood swings, _he thought to himself.

"**He absolutely loathes me," I told her, cheered by that idea.**

"**You can't know that." **

"**I saw his face—I could tell." **

**It was probably true that reading his face would have given me enough information to make that particular deduction. All this practice with Bella was sharpening my skill at reading human expressions."**

"I do need some practice in that department," Edward admitted. _All the more reason for her to get her faster…_

"It's not your fault," Carlisle sympathised. "You have your mind-reading ability, after all."

"Yeah, but he relies on that too much," Jasper said. "Bella's going to improve your life a great deal."

"I think we already know that," Alice laughed.

"**How did you see me? I thought you were ditching." Her face looked better—the green undertone had vanished from her translucent skin."**

"You use the word _translucent _so much that you'd almost think Bella had see-through skin," Esme observed.

"**I was in my car, listening to a CD." **

**Her expression twitched, like my very ordinary answer had surprised her somehow."**

"Well, she _definitely _doesn't think you're human," Rosalie sighed.

"That's good!" Emmett cheered. "That means there is not long until she discovers the truth!"

"**She opened her eyes again when Mrs. Hammond returned with an ice pack.**

"**Here you go, dear," the nurse said as she laid it across Bella's forehead. "You're looking better."**

"**I think I'm fine," Bella said, and she sat up while pulling the ice pack away. Of course. She didn't like to be taken care of."**

"Silly Bella," Edward chuckled.

"Yeah, with Edward she's going to be treated like glass or something similar to that," Emmett laughed.

"**Mrs. Hammond's wrinkled hands fluttered toward the girl, as if she were going to push her back down, but just then Ms. Cope opened the door to the office and leaned in. With her appearance came the smell of fresh blood, just a whiff. **

**Invisible in the office behind her, Mike Newton was still very angry, wishing the heavy boy he dragged now was the girl who was in here with me."**

Edward smirked smugly at this.

Esme noticed and sent him a withering glare, which he tried to ignore before wiping the smirk off of his face. She nodded, pleased, but he caught the warning in her eyes.

"**We've got another one," Ms. Cope said. **

**Bella quickly jumped down from the cot, eager to be out of the spotlight."**

"I can see some patterns coming out with her," Edward noted happily.

"Yeah, me too," Alice smiled. "The mystery of her is becoming clearer a little bit more and more with each chapter."

"**Here," she said, handing the compress back to Mrs. Hammond. "I don't need this."**

"Well, she _might,_" Carlisle murmured to himself. Everyone looked at him, amused.

"**Mike grunted as he half-shoved Lee Stevens through the door. Blood was still dripping down the hand Lee held to his face, trickling toward his wrist."**

"What is he, a haemophiliac or something?" Rosalie muttered.

"Rosalie," Esme scolded.

"Rose is right – what did he do to himself that caused _that _much blood to spill?" Jasper wondered.

"Who knows?" Edward said rhetorically.

"You would, if you weren't focused on Bella with every fibre of your being," Emmett smirked.

"You're not wrong," Edward grinned.

"He is bleeding a lot," Carlisle said. "I know we keep saying this, but it is remarkable that Edward is able to ignore this."

"I don't think I'll be able to stay there for long," Edward sighed. "But that's alright. Neither will Bella."

"Everything's better with Bella," Emmett sang.

"**Oh no." This was my cue to leave—and Bella's, too, it seemed. "Get out to the office, Bella."**

"It's insane," Alice laughed.

"It is pretty funny," Carlisle agreed.

"If Carlisle agrees something is funny, you know it is," Emmett declared, grinning.

"**She stared up at me with bewildered eyes."**

"She always looks at you like that," Rosalie observed.

"Not always. But enough that we notice it when she does," Edward replied.

"**Trust me—go."**

**She whirled and caught the door before it had swung shut, rushing through to the office." **

"She listened to you," Esme beamed.

"That's not that impressive," Emmett laughed.

"Well, she's not really had reason to trust him for the past couple of months or however long it's been," Esme murmured. "It's progress."

"**I followed a few inches behind her. Her swinging hair brushed my hand… She turned to look at me, still wide-eyed.**

"**You actually listened to me." That was a first."**

"There's a first for everything," Edward said.

"But soon pigs will start flying," Emmett muttered quietly. Jasper, the only one who heard this, burst into laughter.

"**Her small nose wrinkled. "I smelled the blood." **

"_What?_" Rosalie asked, shocked.

"That's…peculiar," Edward agreed.

"She might not be human after all!" Emmett cheered.

"No, she's human. I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this," Carlisle said calmly.

"**I stared at her in blank surprise. "People can't smell blood." **

"**Well, I can—that's what makes me sick. It smells like rust…and salt."**

"No it doesn't," Emmett scoffed.

"No, humans often say that if they taste blood in their mouths it tastes rusty, like a coin," Carlisle said. "I knew there was a logical explanation."

"It doesn't taste like that though," Emmett repeated.

"You're not human, honey," Rosalie patted his hand, amused.

"**My face froze, still staring. **

**Was she really even human? She **_**looked **_**human." **

"She might actually have those webbed feet," Jasper chuckled. "We haven't seen her with her shoes off."

"No," Edward laughed. "But I doubt that she has _webbed feet._"

"**She felt soft as a human. She smelled human—well, better actually. She acted human…sort of. But she didn't think like a human, or respond like one."**

"And how many humans have you met?"Esme asked.

"She's right," Rosalie said. "You don't know how _every _human responds to things."

"**What other option was there, though?"**

"She has webbed feet," Emmett nodded. "It's totally true."

"**What?" She demanded. **

"**It's nothing." **

**Mike Newton interrupted us then, entering the room with resentful, violent thoughts. **

"_**You**_** look better," he said to her rudely."**

Edward growled reflexively, and everyone turned to stare at him in amusement.

"**My hand twitched, wanting to teach him some manners. I would have to watch myself, or I would end up actually killing this obnoxious boy."**

"That would make our school life infinitely more interesting," Rosalie said with a smirk.

"**Just keep your hand in your pocket," she said. For one wild second, I thought she was talking to me."**

"Imagine if she could read your mind though," Emmett laughed. "The one girl who has silent mind can read _your _mind."

"That would suck," Edward agreed.

"**It's not bleeding anymore," he answered sullenly. "Are you going back to class?" **

"**Are you kidding? I'd just have to turn around and come back."**

"I get more time with her," Edward said happily.

"**That was very good. I'd thought I was going to have to miss this whole hour with her, and now I got extra time instead. I felt greedy, a miser hording over each minute."**

"Yeah, there's _no _way you'll be able to leave her," Alice said self-assuredly.

"I think you're right," Edward agreed.

_She always is, _Emmett thought with a slight grumble. Edward chuckled quietly.

"**Yeah, I guess…" Mike mumbled. "So are you going this weekend? To the beach?"**

"Who wants to bet it's to La Push?" Emmett asked.

"Ugh," Edward groaned. "It would make sense."

"Looks like you aren't going to be able to follow her to this," Rosalie grinned.

**Ah, they had plans. Anger froze me in place. It was a group trip, though. I'd seen some of this in other students' heads. It wasn't just the two of them. I was still furious." **

"You really need to work on controlling your jealousy," Jasper laughed.

"If only we had a vampire who could do that for me," Edward said teasingly. Jasper shoved his arm.

"**I leaned motionlessly against the counter, trying to control myself. **

"**Sure, I said I was in," she promised him. **

**So she'd said yes to him, too." **

"To a _group _event," Esme reassured him.

"**The jealousy burned, more painful than thirst."**

"I find that hard to believe," Jasper scoffed.

"**No, it was just a group outing, I tried to convince myself. She was just spending the day with friends. Nothing more."**

"She might _meet_ someone there," Emmett said helpfully. "Or she might start liking one of the boys that are going."

"Gee, thanks Emmett," Edward rolled his eyes. Rosalie hit her husband on the back of the head.

"**We're meeting at my dad's store, at ten." **_**And Cullen's NOT invited.**_**"**

"Awesome," Emmett grinned. _Your little feud is so funny._

"**I'll be there," she said. **

"**I'll see you in Gym, then." **

"**See you," she replied.**

**He shuffled off to his class, his thoughts full of ire. **_**What does she see in that freak?" **_

Everybody's eyes narrowed at this.

"_**Sure, he's rich, I guess. Chicks think he's hot, but I don't see that." **_

_That's because you're not gay,_ Emmett thought with amusement.

"_**Too…too perfect. I bet his dad experiments with plastic surgery on all of them. That's why they're all so white and pretty." **_

"Well, he thinks you're pretty but not hot, Edward. How does that make you feel?" Emmett asked, grinning.

Edward rolled his eyes.

"_**It's not natural. And he's sort of…scary-looking. Sometimes, when he stares at me, I'd swear he's thinking about killing me… Freak…"**_

"He's not wrong about that at least," Edward smirked.

"He's a little more perceptive than I gave him credit," Rosalie murmured. "We'll have to be careful about him."

"**Mike wasn't entirely unperceptive. **

"**Gym," Bella repeated quietly. A groan."**

"Oh, I want to see her in gym!" Emmett complained.

"She'd be hilarious in that class," Alice agreed, laughing.

"Why?" Esme asked, bewildered.

"Because she's clumsy," Carlisle answered her.

"Oh," Esme said, and then smiled. "Poor Bella."

"**I looked at her, and saw that she was sad about something again. I wasn't sure why, but it was clear that she didn't want to go to her next class with Mike, and I was all for that plan."**

"As well as you wanting to spend every waking moment with her," Rosalie added.

"**I went to her side and bent close to her face, feeling the warmth of her skin radiating out to my lips. I didn't dare breathe."**

"Amazing," Carlisle breathed.

"Yes, amazing," Edward agreed.

"**I can take care of that," I murmured. "Go sit down and look pale."**

"An easy task, with her paleness," Alice laughed.

"**She did as I asked, sitting in one of the folding chairs and leaning her head back against the wall, while, behind me, Ms. Cope came out of the back room and went to her desk. With her eyes closed, Bella looked as if she'd passed out again. Her full colour hadn't returned yet."**

"I wonder if Ms. Cope saw you looking at her like that," Rosalie thought out loud.

"I wonder if she'd be jealous," Alice giggled.

"**I turned to the secretary. Hopefully Bella was paying attention to this, I thought sardonically. This was how a human was **_**supposed**_** to respond.**

"**Ms. Cope?" I asked, using my persuasive voice again. **

**Her eyelashes fluttered, and her heart sped up. **_**Too young, get a hold of yourself!**_**"**

Everybody burst into laughter at this.

"**Yes?" **

**That was interesting. When Shelly Cope's pulse quickened, it was because she found me physically attractive, not because she was frightened. I was used to that around human females"**

"So modest," Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"…**yet I hadn't considered that explanation for Bella's racing heart."**

"How could you not have _considered _it, at least?" Alice wondered.

"Well, it's so unlikely that she would like me in that way," Edward said. "I understand why."

"But you must be thinking she likes you, right?"

Edward shrugged. "Until the words come out of her mouth, I'm not going to fully believe it. Anyway, she'll never be able to love me as much as I love her."

"If she becomes a vampire she will."

"Thank you, Alice," Edward rolled his eyes.

"**I rather liked that. Too much, in fact." **

"No, not enough," Emmett disagreed. "You should like that."

"**I smiled, and Mrs. Cope's breathing got louder. **

"**Bella has gym next hour, and I don't think she feels well enough. Actually, I was thinking I should take her home now. Do you think you could excuse her from class?" **

**I stared into her depthless eyes, enjoying the havoc that this wreaked on her thought processes. Was it possible that Bella…?"**

"YES!" Alice shouted at the book.

"Jesus, Alice, calm down," Emmett shook his head.

"Oh, like you don't react that way every two seconds?" Alice raised her eyebrows.

"**Mrs. Cope had to swallow loudly before she answered. "Do you need to be excused, too, Edward?" **

"**No, I have Mrs. Goff, she won't mind."**

"But Emmett will," Emmett pouted, sullen.

"**I wasn't paying much attention to her now. I was exploring this new possibility. Hmm. I'd like to believe that Bella found me attractive like other humans did, but when did Bella ever have the same reactions as other humans? I shouldn't get my hopes up."**

"That's a very human thing to be thinking though," Esme said happily. "I love this."

"We all do," Alice smiled. "It's so interesting to see him this way."

"**Okay, it's all taken care of. You feel better, Bella." **

**Bella nodded weakly—overacting a bit."**

Everybody laughed at this, picturing it in their heads.

"**Can you walk, or do you want me to carry you again?" I asked, amused by her poor theatrics. I knew she would want to walk—she wouldn't want to be weak. **

"**I'll walk," she said. **

**Right again. I was getting better at this."**

Edward found this fantastic, and smiled, happy to finally understand her more.

"**She got up, hesitating for a moment as if to check her balance. I held the door for her, and we walked out into the rain."**

"You two are so cute," Alice sighed.

"**I watched her as she lifted her face to the light rain with her eyes closed, a slight smile on her lips. **_**What was she thinking?" **_

"Ugh," Edward said in annoyance. "I'm going to hate that so much."

"Yep," Emmett said, popping the 'p', "it's going to be awesome."

"**Something about this action seemed off, and I quickly realized why the posture looked unfamiliar to me. Normal human girls wouldn't raise their faces to the drizzle that way; normal human girls usually wore makeup, even here in this wet place."**

"Vampires wear makeup as well," Rosalie muttered.

"**Bella never wore makeup, nor should she. The cosmetics industry made billions of dollars a year from women who were trying to attain skin like hers."**

"You can still wear makeup if you want to," Rosalie said. "My skin is great, but I like wearing makeup. Some girls just like wearing it because they like to wear it, Edward."

"**Thanks," she said, smiling at me now. "It's worth getting sick to miss Gym."**

"She smiled at you," Alice grinned.

"So cute," Esme agreed.

"**I stared across the campus, wondering how to prolong my time with her."**

"I mean, kidnapping her might work," Emmett suggested sarcastically.

"**Anytime," I said. **

"**So are you going? This Saturday, I mean?" She sounded hopeful."**

"See? She likes you," Alice pointed to the book. "That's further proof."

"**Ah, her hope was soothing. She wanted me with her, not Mike Newton." **

Edward also found this incredibly relieving. "She might just like me as a friend, though."

"You're such a pessimist," Alice grumbled.

"**And I wanted to say yes. But there were many things to consider. For one, the sun would be shining this Saturday…"**

"Well, that's out of the question," Jasper chuckled.

"And we still think it's at La Push, anyway," Emmett added.

"**Where are you all going, exactly?" I tried to keep my voice nonchalant, as if it didn't matter much. Mike had said **_**beach**_**, though. Not much chance of avoiding sunlight there.**

"**Down to La Push, to First Beach."**

"Knew it," Emmett said, a smug grin spreading across his face.

"_**Damn.**_** Well, it was impossible, then. **

**Anyway, Emmett would be irritated if I cancelled our plans."**

"We have plans?" Emmett spluttered.

"We're probably going hunting," Edward guessed.

"I'm surprised you agreed to that," Jasper said, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

"He probably made the plans before he fell in love with Bella," Alice said. "Well, he must have – he only fell in love with her the night before!"

"Good point," Jasper agreed.

"I always have good points Jazz," Alice laughed.

"**I glanced down at her, smiling wryly. "I really don't think I was invited." **

**She sighed, already resigned. "I just invited you."**

"She's getting to know you as well," Esme smiled. "She knows what you mean when you say something else."

"To an extent," Edward added.

"Yes, to an extent."

"She didn't understand what he meant when he said he wasn't hungry," Jasper grinned. "But she is picking up on some other things, yes."

"**Let's you and I not push poor Mike any further this week. We don't want him to snap." **

"You and I," Alice sighed, smiling.

"**I thought about snapping **_**poor Mike**_** myself, and enjoyed the mental picture intensely. **

"**Mike-schmike," she said, dismissive again. I smiled widely."**

"Bella knows exactly what to say to make you feel better," Emmett chuckled.

"**And then she started to walk away from me. **

**Without thinking about my action, I reached out and caught her by the back of her rain jacket. She jerked to a stop. **

"**Where do you think you're going?" I was almost angry that she was leaving me. I hadn't had enough time with her. She couldn't go, not yet."**

"Yeah, this is just further proof that you won't be able to leave town again," Rosalie said, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "If you can't handle _that, _then…"

"Yes, yes, I know everybody is right," Edward muttered.

"**I'm going home," she said, baffled as to why this should upset me."**

"She _definitely _has no idea that you love her," Emmett chuckled.

"**Didn't you hear me promise to take you safely home? Do you think I'm going to let you drive in your condition?" **

"Ooh, Edward," Rosalie shook her head. "Not the wisest choice of words there."

"**I knew she wouldn't like **_**that**_**—my implication of weakness on her part. But I needed to practice for the Seattle trip, anyway. See if I could handle her proximity in an enclosed space. This was a much shorter journey."**

"I suppose that's a good reason for keeping her with you," Jasper nodded. "But still, I'd be surprised if Bella just goes along with this."

"Something tells me she won't," Alice laughed. "Edward's the king of stubborn though, remember? He'll take her home no matter what."

"**What condition?" She demanded. "And what about my truck?" **

"**I'll have Alice drop it off after school." **

"Yay!" Alice clapped.

"I didn't say _and introduce you to her_, Alice," Edward grinned.

Alice pouted. "No fair."

"Not to mention you'll have to _drive_ that thing," Rosalie shuddered.

"It'll still be the most interaction I've had with Bella yet," Alice muttered.

"**I pulled her back to my car carefully, as I now knew that walking **_**forward**_** was challenging enough for her.**

"**Let go!" She said, twisting sideways and nearly tripping. I held one hand out to catch her, but she righted herself before it was necessary. I shouldn't be looking for excuses to touch her." **

"Au contraire, Edward," Emmett winked at him. "You should _definitely _be doing that."

"**That started me thinking about Ms. Cope's reaction to me, but I filed it away for later. There was much to be considered on that front."**

"Not really," Rosalie murmured, amused. "But sure, Edward."

"**I let her go beside the car, and she stumbled into the door. I would have to be even more careful, to take into account her poor balance…"**

"One moment she's walking beside you, the next she's fallen off a cliff," Emmett joked.

"**You are so **_**pushy**_**!"**

"Tell me about it," Emmett rolled his eyes.

"**It's open."**

**I got in on my side and started the car. She held her body rigidly, still outside, though the rain had picked up and I knew she didn't like the cold and wet. Water was soaking through her thick hair, darkening it to near black. **

"**I am perfectly capable of driving myself home!" **

**Of course she was—I just wasn't capable of letting her go."**

"But _keep it light_, right?" Jasper smirked at Edward. "You can't exactly say that to her casually."

"**I rolled her window down and leaned toward her. "Get in, Bella." **

**Her eyes narrowed, and I guessed that she was debating whether or not to make a run for it."**

"Makes sense," Alice rolled her eyes.

"I wonder how accurate you were in thinking this," Esme mused.

"**I'll just drag you back," I promised, enjoying the chagrin on her face when she realised I meant it."**

"You sort of read her mind!" Emmett said in surprise.

"Her face is very easy to read, remember?" Edward smirked at his surprised look. "It sounds like it was very easy for me to think that."

"**Her chin stiffly in the air, she opened her door and climbed in. Her hair dripped on the leather and her boots squeaked against each other. **

"**This is completely unnecessary," she said coldly. I thought she looked embarrassed under the pique."**

"Riding in a car with a vampire that's in love with her," Alice giggled. "Not that she knows that."

"**I just turned up the heater so she wouldn't be uncomfortable, and set the music to a nice background level." **

"Whenever anybody says that, all I can think of is generic elevator music," Emmett said quietly. Everybody cracked a grin.

"**I drove out toward the exit, watching her from the corner of my eye. Her lower lip was jutting out stubbornly. I stared at this, examining how it made me feel… thinking of the secretary's reaction again…"**

_You like that, huh? _Emmett thought, winking at Edward again. Edward sighed.

"**Suddenly she looked at the stereo and smiled, her eyes widening. "Clair de Lune?" she asked."**

Everybody raised a surprised eyebrow at this.

"You both like Debussy," Esme said in wonder.

"**A fan of the classics? "You know Debussy?" **

"**Not well," she said. "My mother plays a lot of classical music around the house—I only know my favourites."**

"Isn't that one of your favourite songs as well?" Alice asked him.

"Yes," Edward nodded. "It's my favourite music to help me calm down, as well. I've listened to it in this book before."

"Well, you _think _you have," Jasper grinned. "You won't know until you live it."

"**It's one of my favourites, too." I stared at the rain, considering that. I actually had something in common with the girl. I'd begun to think that we were opposites in every way."**

"You're not _opposites_," Esme disagreed.

"Opposites attract, though," Emmett said.

"Not all the time," Edward said. "An ant and an elephant wouldn't be attracted to each other."

"Thank you for that startling revelation, Edward," Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"**She seemed more relaxed now, staring at the rain like me, with unseeing eyes. I used her momentary distraction to experiment with breathing. **

**I inhaled carefully through my nose. **

**Potent."**

Everyone groaned at this.

"Ugh," Edward muttered.

"**I clutched the steering wheel tighter. The rain made her smell better." **

"So she smells amazing when she's dry, and amazing when she's wet?" Emmett asked rhetorically, a wicked grin on his lips.

"**I wouldn't have thought that was possible. Stupidly, I was suddenly imaging how she would taste."**

Emmett only laughed.

"**I tried to swallow against the burn in my throat, to think of something else. **

"**What is your mother like?" I asked as a distraction. **

**Bella smiled. "She looks a lot like me, but she's prettier."**

Edward rolled his eyes.

"**I doubted that."**

"When you two are in sync, I get really creeped out," Alice muttered.

"**I have too much Charlie in me," she went on. "She's more outgoing than I am, and braver."**

"Says the girl who's sitting beside a vampire," Edward said.

"**I doubted that, too."**

"See? Creepy," Alice laughed.

"**She's irresponsible and slightly eccentric, and she's a very unpredictable cook. She's my best friend." Her voice had turned melancholy; her forehead creased."**

"She misses her," Esme sighed.

"She does sound more like a parent, doesn't she?" Carlisle mused.

"**Again, she sounded more like parent than child. **

**I stopped in front of her house, wondering too late if I was supposed to know where she lived. No, this wouldn't be suspicious in such a small town, with her father a public figure…"**

"Oh I wish Bella would pick up on this," Emmett frowned, upset.

"**How old are you, Bella?" She must be older than her peers. Perhaps she'd been late to start school, or been held back…that wasn't likely, though."**

"There's no way in hell she was held back," Alice vehemently disagreed.

"I'm not saying she is," Edward said.

"**I'm seventeen," she answered. **

"**You don't seem seventeen." **

**She laughed."**

"She could be thinking the exact same thing about you," Jasper grinned.

"**What?"**

"**My mom always says I was born thirty-five years old and that I get more middle-aged every year." She laughed again, and then sighed. "Well, someone has to be the adult."**

**This clarified things for me. I could see it now…how the irresponsible mother helped explain Bella's maturity. She'd had to grow up early, to become the caretaker. That's why she didn't like being cared for—she felt it was her job."**

"Makes sense," Edward nodded, agreeing with his conclusion.

"**You don't seem much like a junior in high school yourself," she said, pulling me from my reverie."**

"See?" Jasper smirked.

"She's going to notice when you start dodging questions like that, as well," Rosalie sighed. "But I guess it's pretty inevitable that she'll find out we're all vampires."

"**I grimaced. For everything I perceived about her, she perceived too much in return. I changed the subject."**

"She's going to notice that," Carlisle agreed. "She's too perceptive not too."

"**So why did your mother marry Phil?"**

**She hesitated a minute before answering. "My mother…she's very young for her age. I think Phil makes her feel even younger. At any rate, she's crazy about him." She shook her head indulgently."**

"It doesn't sound like she hates him or anything," Rosalie observed.

"I think it would take a lot for her to hate someone," Edward said.

"**Do you approve?" I wondered. **

"**Does it matter?" she asked. "I want her to be happy…and he is who she wants."**

Edward shook his head in wonder. "She's amazing."

"Yes Edward, we've been saying that for almost the whole book," Alice laughed.

"**The unselfishness of her comment would have shocked me, except that it fit in all too well with what I'd learned of her character. **

"**That's very generous…I wonder." **

"**What?" **

"**Would she extend the same courtesy to you, do you think? No matter who your choice was?" **

**It was a foolish question, and I could not keep my voice casual while I asked it."**

"Well," Emmett commented. "She's going to be a little suspicious of that."

"Who wouldn't, though?" Alice grinned. "But Bella isn't too astute at picking up on these things."

"_That_ was almost written out across Edward's forehead, Alice," Rosalie rolled her eyes. "If she doesn't pick up on _that…_"

"You have a point," Alice agreed.

"**How stupid to even consider someone approving of **_**me**_** for their daughter." **

Esme and Carlisle frowned at this.

"**How stupid to even think of Bella choosing me."**

"Edward," Esme shook her head. "You can't think like that."

"**I-I think so," she stuttered, reacting in some way to my gaze. Fear…or attraction?"**

"God, Edward," Alice rolled her eyes. "It's most definitely attraction."

"**But she's the parent, after all. It's a little bit different," she finished."**

"Not really," Rosalie disagreed.

"**I smiled wryly. "No one too scary then." **

**She grinned at me. "What do you mean by scary? Multiple facial piercings and extensive tattoos?"**

"Because Edward has those," Emmett laughed.

"Can you imagine?" Jasper laughed as well. "That would be a sight to see."

"**That's one definition, I suppose." A very nonthreatening definition, to my mind."**

"If Bella was dating someone like that, you'd be a _little _bit concerned, Edward," Rosalie grinned at him.

"**What's your definition?"**

"Someone vampiric, perhaps?" Alice asked sarcastically.

"**She always asked the wrong questions. Or exactly the right questions, maybe. The ones I didn't want to answer, at any rate."**

"She asks the right questions, you just never want to answer them," Esme sighed.

"**Do you think that **_**I**_** could be scary?" I asked her, trying to smile a little."**

**She thought it through before answering me in a serious voice. "Hmm…I think you **_**could**_** be, if you wanted to."**

"At least she takes you seriously," Rosalie murmured.

"_How _seriously, though?" Jasper asked. "Again, being able to read her thoughts would be very helpful right about now."

"**I was serious, too. "Are you frightened of me now?" **

**She answered at once, not thinking this one through. "No."**

Edward almost groaned. He wasn't sure whether this was a good thing or a bad thing; good for him, definitely – but bad for her?

"**I smiled more easily. I did not think she was entirely telling the truth, but nor was she truly lying. She wasn't frightened enough to want to leave, at least. I wondered how she would feel if I told her she was having this discussion with a vampire. I cringed internally at her imagined reaction."**

"I want that to happen so badly," Emmett frowned. "It would be funny."

"But then she'd be scared of you, Emmett," Jasper reminded him.

"Good point," Emmett frowned again. "Maybe that wouldn't be too good."

"**So, now are you going to tell me about your family? It's got to be a much more interesting story than mine."**

"Finally, we all get a mention," Alice laughed.

"**A more frightening one, at least. **

"**What do you want to know?" I asked cautiously. **

"**The Cullens adopted you?" **

"**Yes." **

**She hesitated, then spoke in a small voice. "What happened to your parents?"**

**This wasn't so hard; I wasn't even having to lie to her. "They died a very long time ago." **

"**I'm sorry," she mumbled, clearly worried about having hurt me."**

"It's not like she's going to come out and ask all of these hard-hitting questions, Edward," Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Of course she'd be curious about your birthparents."

"_**She**_** was worried about **_**me**_**."**

"Of course she is," Alice said. "She's Bella."

"**I don't really remember them that clearly," I assured her. "Carlisle and Esme have been my parents for a long time now." **

"**And you love them," she deduced.**

**I smiled. "Yes. I couldn't imagine two better people."**

Everybody smiled at Carlisle and Esme then.

"Thank you Edward," Esme squeezed his shoulder, a smile on her face.

"**You're very lucky." **

"**I know I am." In that one circumstance, the matter of parents, my luck could not be denied. **

"**And your brother and sisters?"**

"She's asking about us!" Emmett cheered.

"**If I let her push for too many details, I would have to lie. I glanced at the clock, disheartened that my time with her was up."**

"Damn," Emmett sighed. "One day I'll talk to her. One day."

"**My brother and sister, and Jasper and Rosalie for that matter, are going to be quite upset if they have to stand in the rain waiting for me."**

"You've got that right," Rosalie agreed.

"**Oh, sorry, I guess you have to go." **

**She didn't move. She didn't want our time to be up, either. I liked that very, very much."**

"See? She likes you," Alice said. She seemed determined to point out every moment like this to Edward, to try and convince him that she did indeed like him.

"**And you probably want your truck back before Chief Swan gets home, so you don't have to tell him about the Biology incident." I grinned at the memory of her embarrassment in my arms."**

_In my arms,_ Edward thought, sighing unhappily.

"**I'm sure he's already heard. There are no secrets in Forks." She said the name of the town with distinct distaste. **

**I laughed at her words. No secrets, indeed."**

Everybody laughed at this.

"If only she knew," Jasper grinned.

"I can't wait until she does," Alice sighed.

"**Have fun at the beach." I glanced at the pouring rain, knowing it would not last, and wishing more strongly than usual that it could. "Good weather for sunbathing." Well, it would be by Saturday. She would enjoy that.**

"**Won't I see you tomorrow?" **

**The worry in her tone pleased me."**

"She's going to miss you, too," Esme smiled.

"A fraction of the amount that I will," Edward murmured.

"**No. Emmett and I are starting the weekend early." I was mad at myself now for having made the plans." **

"Thanks brother," Emmett chuckled, good-natured as always.

"**I could break them…but there was no such thing as too much hunting at this point, and my family was going to be concerned enough about my behaviour without me revealing how obsessive I was turning."**

"Only Alice is going to know that you love her," Rosalie realised.

"Do you think I might not have told anyone else?" Alice wondered.

"You might have. Or you might be waiting for Edward to do it himself," Jasper answered her.

"**What are you going to do?" she asked, not sounding happy with my revelation. Good.**

"**We're going to be hiking in the Goat Rocks Wilderness, just south of Rainier." Emmett was eager for bear season."**

"That explains it," Emmett nodded. "Bears."

Rosalie sighed. "How predictable."

"**Oh, well, have fun," she said halfheartedly. Her lack of enthusiasm pleased me again.**

**As I stared at her, I began to feel almost agonised at the thought of saying even a temporary goodbye." **

"Awww," Alice smiled.

"You're going to hurry back here as soon as you can," Rosalie laughed.

"I'm not going to have the best hunting partner, am I?" Emmett sighed.

"No, you really aren't," Edward agreed, laughing.

"**She was just so soft and vulnerable. It seemed foolhardy to let her out of my sight, where anything could happen to her. And yet, the worst things that could happen to her would result from being with me.**

"**Will you do something for me this weekend?" I asked seriously. **

**She nodded, her eyes wide and bewildered by my intensity. **

**Keep it light."**

"There it is," Jasper shook his head. "I was waiting for your little mantra to make a re-appearance."

"**Don't be offended, but you seem to be one of those people who just attract accidents like a magnet. So…try not to fall into the ocean or get run over or anything, all right?"**

"She's going to think that that is the strangest request," Alice shook her head.

"That, or she's going to think you are making fun of her," Rosalie grinned at Edward.

"**I smiled ruefully at her, hoping she couldn't see the sadness in my eyes. How much I wished that she wasn't so much better off away from me, no matter what might happen to her there. **

_**Run, Bella, run." **_

"And there's _that_ little saying," Jasper shook his head again.

"Why do they bother you so much?" Alice asked.

"They don't. Edward just says them so often."

"_**I love you too much, for your good or mine. **_

**She was offended by my teasing. She glared at me. "I'll see what I can do," she snapped, jumping out into the rain and slamming the door as hard as she could behind her."**

"I knew it," Rosalie chuckled, amused.

"**Just like an angry kitten that believes it's a tiger. **

**I curled my hand around the key I'd just picked from her jacket pocket, and smiled as I drove away."**

"That's the end of the chapter," Carlisle announced.

"I suppose I'll read the next one. I haven't read a chapter yet," Jasper said, and took the book from Carlisle.

"The next chapter is going to be about you being ridiculously lonely, isn't it?" Emmett sighed. "I'm not really looking forward to this hunting trip. I don't think we should go on it in real life."

"Thanks, Emmett," Edward chuckled. "You can go, though. You love bears."

"I know," Emmett said.

"Well, let's keep reading, shall we? I wonder what could happen next," Esme said, frowning slightly at the book.

"If I knew, I would tell you," Alice muttered. "I wish I did know at least _one _big spoiler, though."

**A/N: SERIOUSLY CARLISLE STOP BEING SO ANNOYING TO WRITE UGH he is coming across as like another Sheldon Cooper – he doesn't laugh he doesn't get jokes he doesn't really do anything other than comment on things from an analytical and scientific mind-set and it's infuriating.**

**I apologise. I also apologise for taking a month or however long it's been to update – school is just kicking my ass and I've had no time to calm down enough to get into the mind-frame of writing.**

**Leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll be back soon! :)**


	7. Chapter 7: Melody

**A/N: HI EVERYONE! Ugh I'm so sorry for taking a whole another month to update but seriously if you knew what was happening at school you would understand. I'm in year 12 which people call the busiest school year here and it's so true – so please understand that I'm not neglecting, I'm just so busy!**

**Thanks for your reviews as always! I think that I agree with you bananafox, but I want the Cullens to know about the meadow scene, so I'll probably write the whole first book :D**

**csp4, I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, but if you aren't then yeah! I hope they aren't acting too out of character, but I think that because they are reading from Edward's point of view, and are actually getting to know Bella, that their opinion of her would be a _lot _different than what it is in the book? I don't know, it's just what I think :) On with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Midnight Sun, nor any of the characters in it.**

Chapter Seven: Melody

Jasper took the book from Carlisle and began reading. **"Melody," **he said.

"Sounds like you're playing the piano in this chapter," Esme smiled.

"That song that you could hear in your head in the last chapter probably had something to do with this," Rosalie mused, ever observant.

"You're right, Rose," Edward agreed. "I just wish I could hear it in _my _head."

"You will," Alice giggled. "Patience is a virtue, Edward Cullen."

"**I had to wait when I got back to school. The final hour wasn't out yet." **

"So you _lied _to _Bella?_ The _horror!_" Emmett gasped.

"**That was good, because I had things to think about and I needed the alone time."**

"Things to think about, as in plural," Jasper chuckled.

"Jazz is right – you're becoming way more predictable now that you have Bella," Alice nudged her brother. "All you _have _to think about is her."

Edward pretended not to hear this, resulting in the amused smiles of every other Cullen.

"**Her scent lingered in the car. I kept the windows up, letting it assault me, trying to get used to the feel of intentionally torching my throat."**

Edward shook his head. _Amazing._

"**Attraction."**

"That sure is a word," Emmett joked.

"**It was a problematic thing to contemplate. So many sides to it, so many different meanings and levels. Not the same thing as love, but tied up in it inextricably."**

"If you're in love with someone yet not attracted to them, that does indeed make no sense," Rosalie nodded her agreement.

"**I had no idea if Bella was attracted to me." **

"_No idea?_" Alice exclaimed in disbelief.

Esme sighed. "It's like trying to walk through a wall with this one."

"**(Would her mental silence somehow continue to get more and more frustrating until I went mad? Or was there a limit that I would eventually reach?)"**

"I'm pretty sure you've already came to that hurdle and passed it," Jasper chuckled. "It's a shame we don't know her thoughts though. I'd like to hear how she thinks."

Edward turned and wordlessly stared at Jasper. "I don't know how to respond to that."

Jasper caught Edward's emotions of quiet amusement and laughed.

"**I tried to compare her physical responses to others, like the secretary and Jessica Stanley, but the comparison was inconclusive. The same markers—changes in heart rate and breathing patterns—could just as easily mean fear or shock or anxiety as they did interest. It seemed unlikely that Bella could be entertaining the same kinds of thoughts that Jessica Stanley used to have. After all, Bella knew very well that there was something wrong with me, even if she didn't know what exactly it was. She had touched my icy skin, and then yanked her hand away from the chill."**

"Because she felt that electric current," Carlisle reminded him.

"Exactly!" Alice threw her hands up. "She feels the attraction, no shadow of a doubt."

"**And yet…as I remembered those fantasies that used to repulse me, but remembered them with Bella in Jessica's place…"**

"Woah there Edward, let's keep it PG," Emmett looked at him mockingly.

"**I was breathing more quickly, the fire clawing up and down my throat."**

_Is the fire clawing up and down anywhere else, might I ask…?_

"Emmett!" Edward's eyes widened. "Stop!"

"**What if it had been **_**Bella**_** imagining me with my arms wrapped around her fragile body? Feeling me pull her tightly against my chest and then cupping my hand under her chin? Brushing the heavy curtain of her hair back from her blushing face? Tracing the shape of her full lips with my fingertips? Leaning my face closer to hers, where I could feel the heat of her breath on my mouth? Moving closer still…"**

Edward listened to this with a slightly dazed look on his face, imagining it too.

"Well he's gone," Emmett barked a laugh. "I don't think he'll be coherent for a while."

"**But then I flinched away from the daydream, knowing, as I had known when Jessica had imagined these things, what would happen if I got that close to her."**

Jasper and Carlisle frowned, both for different reasons, but both trying to think up a way that Edward might be able to do such a thing.

"**Attraction was an impossible dilemma, because I was already too attracted to Bella in the worst way."**

"Hardly the worst way, Edward," Rosalie disagreed with a scoff.

"**Did I want Bella to be attracted to me, a woman to a man?"**

"How else would she be attracted to you? A Homo sapiens to a Homo sapiens?" Alice grumbled aloud.

"**That was the wrong question. The right question was **_**should**_** I want Bella to be attracted to me that way, and that answer was no." **

"But that's ridiculous," Emmett sputtered. "Of course you should want her to be attracted to you – how else would your courtship, for lack of a better word, begin?"

"**Because I was not a human man, and that wasn't fair to her."**

Emmett blinked at this, and became slightly upset as he realised his brother had a point.

"**With every fiber of my being, I ached to be a normal man, so that I could hold her in my arms without risking her life. So that I could be free to spin my own fantasies, fantasies that didn't end in with her blood on my hands, her blood glowing in my eyes."**

Everybody sighed at that, with Edward looking particularly distraught over hearing his desires and fears spoken to the room.

Carlisle tried to hide his shame, but Jasper caught his emotion and sent him a reassuring wave of calm emotions. Carlisle gave him a thankful smile.

"**My pursuit of her was indefensible. What kind of relationship could I offer her, when I couldn't risk touching her?"**

"Oh you can risk it," Alice murmured. "Perhaps we should be there the first time you try such a thing."

"I think it will happen at school," Rosalie said. "We'll hear the screaming if anything goes bad."

"Thanks, Rosalie," Edward muttered dejectedly.

"**I hung my head in my hands.**

**It was all the more confusing because I had never felt so human in my whole life—not even when I **_**was**_** human, as far as I could recall." **

"That's the beauty of love," Esme sighed happily.

"**When I had been human, my thoughts had all been turned to a soldier's glory." **

"You never noticed another girl? At all? _Ever?_" Emmett found this very hard to believe, but Edward only added to his confusion by saying that that was indeed the case.

"**The Great War had raged through most of my adolescence, and I'd been only nine months away from my eighteenth birthday when the influenza had struck… I had just vague impressions of those human years, murky memories that faded more with every passing decade. I remembered my mother most clearly, and felt an ancient ache when I thought of her face." **

Each Cullen thought briefly of their own parents, some more curious than others. Alice in particular tried to think of her parents in a positive light, but could only feel bitter anger and resentment. Jasper took and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"**I recalled dimly how much she had hated the future I'd raced eagerly toward, praying every night when she said grace at dinner that the "horrid war" would end… I had no memories of another kind of yearning. Besides my mother's love, there was no other love that had made me wish to stay…"**

"How ironic is it that the war ended the same year you became a vampire," Emmett chuckled.

"**This was entirely new to me. I had no parallels to draw, no comparisons to make."**

"You have your darling brothers' and sisters' parallels to draw from," Alice giggled.

"**The love I felt for Bella had come purely, but now the waters were muddied. I wanted very much to be able to touch her. Did she feel the same way?"**

_Bow chicka wow wow,_ Emmett thought with a chuckle.

"If Bella ends up not feeling the same way, I'll burn my car to the ground," Rosalie muttered.

"**That didn't matter, I tried to convince myself."**

"Aw, Eddiekins!" Emmett pretended to looks reassuring. "You know if you'd speak your troubles to me, I'd help convince you!"

"**I stared at my white hands, hating their hardness, their coldness, their inhuman strength…**

**I jumped when the passenger door opened."**

"There's a first for everything," Emmett said.

_**Ha. Caught you by surprise. There's a first,**_** Emmett thought as he slid into the seat. "I'll bet Mrs. Goff thinks you're on drugs, you've been so erratic lately. Where were you today?"**

"Ah, it's me!" Emmett cheered for the umpteenth time.

"**I was…doing good deeds." **

_**Huh?**_

**I chuckled. "Caring for the sick, that kind of thing."**

"That just makes you sound like Carlisle," Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"**That confused him more, but then he inhaled and caught the scent in the car. **

"**Oh. The girl again?" **

"That could summarise this entire book's plot," Jasper chuckled.

"**I grimaced.**

_**This is getting weird."**_

"Looks like I don't yet know that you love her," Emmett mused.

"Which means I haven't spilled the beans," Alice smirked. "I love knowing things."

"**Tell me about it," I mumbled.**

**He inhaled again. "Hmm, she does have a quite a flavor, doesn't she?"**

Edward's eyes narrowed warningly, an instinctive response to a possible threat. He'd seen his family do the exact same thing in all their years, while he'd always stood by his lonesome. Now he understood the reaction.

"**The snarl broke through my lips before his words had even registered all the way, an automatic response.**

"**Easy, kid, I'm just sayin.'" **

"I'm just the best person," Emmett crowed.

"**The others arrived then. Rosalie noticed the scent at once and glowered at me, still not over her irritation. I wondered what her problem was, but all I could hear from her were insults."**

Rosalie shook her head, chuckling quietly.

**I didn't like Jasper's reaction, either. Like Emmett, he noticed Bella's appeal. Not that the scent had, for either of them, a thousandth portion of the draw it had for me. I was still upset me that her blood was sweet to them. Jasper had poor control…"**

Jasper sighed. "Thanks for the support."

"He's just being overprotective," Alice assured him. "Don't think too much of it. You do the exact same thing with me."

"**Alice skipped to my side of the car and held her hand out for Bella's truck key."**

Alice beamed. "I _love _knowing things."

"**I only saw that I was," she said—obscurely, as was her habit." **

_Damn straight,_ Alice thought with a smile.

"**You'll have to tell me the whys." **

"**This doesn't mean—"**

"**I know, I know. I'll wait. It won't be long." **

"God, I hope I'm right," Alice sighed.

"Bella might never ever meet us if he stays this stubborn," Emmett sighed as well.

"**I sighed and gave her the key.**

**I followed her to Bella's house. The rain was pounding down like a million tiny hammers, so loud that maybe Bella's human ears couldn't hear the thunder of the truck's engine. I watched her window, but she didn't come to look out. Maybe she wasn't there. There were no thoughts to hear."**

Edward found this, as usual, infuriatingly frustrating.

"**It made me sad that I couldn't hear enough even to check on her—to make sure she was happy, or safe, at the least."**

Everyone smiled at that.

_How adorable, _Rosalie thought. Alice and Esme's thoughts were running along the same line.

"**Alice climbed in the back and we sped home. The roads were empty, and so it only took a few minutes. We trooped into the house, and then went to our various pastimes."**

"We do not troop," Emmett scoffed. "We aren't soldiers."

"One of us is," Jasper reminded him with a smirk.

"**Emmett and Jasper were in the middle of an elaborate game of chess, utilizing eight joined boards—spread out along the glass back wall—and their own complicated set of rules. They wouldn't let me play; only Alice would play games with me anymore."**

"And whose fault is that?" Emmett questioned him.

"Not mine," Edward chuckled. "You know I can't turn it off, Em."

_Yeah, yeah,_ Emmett waved a hand at this.

"**Alice went to her computer just around the corner from them, and I could hear her monitors sing to life. Alice was working on a fashion design project for Rosalie's wardrobe, but Rosalie did not join her today, to stand behind her and direct cut and color as Alice's hand traced over the touch sensitive screens (Carlisle and I had had to tweak that system a bit, given that most such screens responded to temperature). Instead, today Rosalie sprawled sullenly on the sofa and started flipping through twenty channels a second on the flat screen, never pausing. I could hear her trying to decide whether or not to go out to the garage and tune her BMW again."**

"It's so weird to have you describing this," Rosalie commented.

"**Esme was upstairs, humming over a new set of blue prints."**

"I wonder what for?" Esme cocked her head, trying to think of any plans she had to renovate or build something.

"**Alice leaned her head around the wall after a moment and started mouthing Emmett's next moves—Emmett sat on the floor with his back to her—to Jasper, who kept his expression very smooth as he cut off Emmett's favorite knight."**

Emmett's face fell into an expression of outrage at hearing this. "Not only do you cheat, you help _Jasper_ cheat! He was the only one who wouldn't!"

Alice and Jasper burst out laughing at his upset expression.

"I'm sorry, Em, I promise I won't help Jazz in the future," Alice giggled.

"**And I, for the first time in so long that I felt ashamed, went to sit at the exquisite grand piano stationed just off the entryway."**

"Yay!" Esme clapped happily.

"**I ran my hand gently up the scales, testing the pitch. The tuning was still perfect."**

"Do you seriously think that you'd let your precious piano become anything less than perfect?" Emmett rolled his eyes.

"**Upstairs, Esme paused what she was doing and cocked her head to the side. I began the first line of the tune that had suggested itself to me in the car today, pleased that it sounded even better than I'd imagined."**

"Who wants to guess that this new song has something to do with Bella?" Alice chuckled.

"I don't doubt it," Edward agreed with a smile.

"_**Edward is playing again,**_** Esme thought joyously, a smile breaking across her face. She got up from her desk, and flitted silently to the head of the stairs."**

"I wonder when the last time you played was?" Carlisle mused.

"Oh, it easily would have been before Bella arrived," Edward guessed. "Which means…around now."

"How exciting," Alice grinned.

"I won't be stopping _now_, Alice," he reminded her with a smile. "_I'm _already in love with her."

"**I added a harmonizing line, letting the central melody weave through it. **

**Esme sighed with contentment, sat down on the top step, and leaned her head against the banister. **_**A new song. It's been so long. What a lovely tune."**_

"Esme's thoughts!" Emmett exclaimed.

"Yes, Emmett, wow," Edward rolled his eyes.

"**I let the melody lead in a new direction, following it with the bass line. **

_**Edward is composing again?**_** Rosalie thought, and her teeth clenched together in fierce resentment."**

"Calm down, Rose," Alice laughed.

Rosalie had cocked her head, staring at the book with a hint of fear in her expression.

"**In that moment, she slipped, and I could read all her underlying outrage. I saw why she was in such a poor temper with me. Why killing Isabella Swan had not bothered her conscience at all."**

Rosalie sighed unhappily, knowing exactly what Edward had just heard.

"**With Rosalie, it was always about vanity."**

Everyone looked at Rose, slightly confused as Edward hadn't gone into great detail. Rosalie breathed a quiet sigh of relief, happy that they didn't all know.

"**The music came to an abrupt halt, and I laughed before I could help myself, a sharp bark of amusement that broke off quickly as I threw my hand over my mouth. Rosalie turned to glare at me, her eyes sparking with chagrined fury."**

_What happened? _Emmett thought desperately, his eyes darting from Rosalie to Edward and back.

Edward shrugged. "I don't know."

Rosalie began fidgeting.

"**Emmett and Jasper turned to stare, too, and I heard Esme's confusion. Esme was downstairs in a flash, pausing to glance between Rosalie and me. **

"**Don't stop, Edward," Esme encouraged after a strained moment.**

**I started playing again, turning my back on Rosalie while trying very hard to control the grin stretching across my face. She got to her feet and stalked out of the room, more angry than embarrassed. But certainly quite embarrassed."**

Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"_**If you say anything I will hunt you like a dog."**_

Everybody laughed at this, even though they didn't quite understand what had just happened.

"**I smothered another laugh. **

"**What's wrong, Rose?" Emmett called after her. Rosalie didn't turn. She continued, back ramrod straight, to the garage and then squirmed under her car as if she could bury herself there."**

"We shouldn't laugh," Esme made a face. "We don't know what Edward heard. It could have been private."

"Rosalie's more predictable than you think," Edward said.

Rosalie flashed him a glare. "Rude, Edward. Thanks for that."

"**What's that about?" Emmett asked me. **

"**I don't have the faintest idea," I lied. **

**Emmett grumbled, frustrated."**

"I'm with myself," Emmett muttered.

Rosalie smiled slightly at his dejected look.

"**Keep playing," Esme urged. My hands had paused again."**

"Esme," Jasper laughed, "making sure Edward remains a pianist."

"**I did as she asked, and she came to stand behind me, putting her hands on my shoulders. **

**The song was compelling, but incomplete. I toyed with a bridge, but it didn't seem right somehow."**

"It's about Bella," Emmett rolled his eyes. "The song was _compelling._"

"**It's charming. Does it have a name?" Esme asked. **

"**Not yet." **

"**Is there a story to it?" she asked, a smile in her voice. This gave her very great pleasure, and I felt guilty for having neglected my music for so long." **

"Esme's more interested in it than you are," Alice remarked.

"I wouldn't say _that_, Alice," Esme replied. "I just like hearing him play."

"You like it even more when he plays something new," Carlisle added.

"That is true," Edward agreed with a grin. "You turn into a fascinated child when you hear me playing something new."

Esme shook her head, smiling. "Stop it, everyone."

"**It had been selfish."**

_Again with the ridiculous selfish notions, _Alice thought, grumbling.

"**It's…a lullaby, I suppose." I got the bridge right then. It led easily to the next movement, taking on a life of its own."**

"A lullaby?" Edward raised his eyebrows. "Interesting."

"Still trying to work out what it sounds like?" Emmett chuckled.

He sighed. "Yes."

"**A lullaby," she repeated to herself. **

**There **_**was**_** a story to this melody, and once I saw that, the pieces fell into place effortlessly. The story was a sleeping girl in a narrow bed, dark hair thick and wild and twisted like seaweed across the pillow…"**

"It's about your love for her?" Alice guessed.

"Possibly. Either that or how _compelling_ he finds her," Emmett repeated the word, grinning at Edward.

"It's more likely both," Edward murmured.

"**Alice left Jasper to his own devices and came to sit next to me on the bench. In her trilling, wind chime voice, she sketched out a wordless descant two octaves above the melody.**

"**I like it," I murmured. "But how about this?" **

**I added her line to the harmony—my hands were flying across the keys now to work all the pieces together—modifying it a bit, taking it in a new direction… **

**She caught the mood, and sung along."**

"Ugh, this is torture!" Edward groaned. "I wish I could hear what books sound like!"

"And poof, a genie appears ready to grant this wish of yours," Emmett joked, and then made a face. "Not one of my best, I have to admit."

"**Yes. Perfect," I said. **

**Esme squeezed my shoulder. **

**But I could see the end now, with Alice's voice rising above the tune and taking it to another place. I could see how the song must end, because the sleeping girl was perfect just the way she was, and any change at all would be wrong, a sadness. The song drifted toward that realization, slower and lower now. Alice's voice lowered, too, and became solemn, a tone that belonged under the echoing arches of a candlelit cathedral."**

"Who sings to a piano, though?" Emmett blinked, confused.

"Alice does," Rosalie grinned. "Odd, but then again it's Alice we're talking about."

"**I played the last note, and then bowed my head over the keys."**

Edward sighed. "It doesn't sound a piece I'll love to play."

"You love it," Esme disagreed. "It's the ending that saddens you." _Endings are often sad. She is perfect the way she is, yes, but perfection is but a facet on a diamond – there are so many different ways she can be perfect. There is a long road ahead for the both of you, my son, and she is going to only blossom further as you journey along it._

Edward stared at her in silent wonder, not sure what to say to that.

"**Esme stroked my hair. **_**It's going to be fine, Edward. This is going to work out for the best. You **_**deserve **_**happiness, my son. Fate owes you that."**_

"You do deserve happiness, Edward," Alice frowned. "We've all had someone for so long, and you haven't. If only you'd believe that you _deserve_ it, then I'd be getting somewhere."

"You?" Edward questioned, a slight smile on his face.

"Yes, _me_," Alice hit him playfully. "Then I'd get to meet her."

"**Thanks," I whispered, wishing I could believe it."**

_You'll believe it. If we don't make you believe it, I'm sure Bella will,_ Alice thought.

"_**Love doesn't always come in convenient packages."**_

"It sounds like Esme knows you love Bella," Rosalie observed.

"Yes," Edward frowned. "So Alice _did_ tell everyone."

Alice shrugged. "It sounds like something I would do. If I didn't, it would be easy to tell that you're different, anyway."

"**I laughed once without humour."**

"That would be the funniest laugh to hear," Emmett chuckled, imagining it.

"_**You, out of everyone on this planet, are perhaps best equipped to deal with such a difficult quandary. You are the best and the brightest of us all."**_

"What about me?" Emmett said, mock-hurt.

Esme had opened her mouth and was about to sing Emmett's praises, when she realised he was only faking being hurt. She gave him an annoyed look instead.

"**I sighed. Every mother thought the same of her son."**

_That doesn't make it less true,_ Carlisle thought disapprovingly.

"**Esme was still full of joy that my heart had finally been touched after all this time, no matter the potential for tragedy. She'd thought I would always be alone…"**

"I did not," Esme disagreed. "I just despaired as to when you wouldn't be alone."

"He's technically still alone now," Jasper said. "Bella has no idea that he loves her."

"That's true," Edward sighed. "I wonder how long it will be until I can tell her."

"Probably a good while," Alice frowned. "You've only just become friends."

Edward grumbled under his breath, upset.

"_**She'll have to love you back,**_** she thought suddenly, catching me by surprise with the direction of her thoughts. **_**If she's a bright girl." **_

"She is a bright girl," Edward defended Bella.

"I know she is," Esme soothed him. "I didn't mean intelligent-wise, Edward."

"I know," Edward sighed.

"She will love him back," Rosalie murmured. "It's just the part of getting there that could take a while. She doesn't know she has so many suitors, so how could she be expected to pick up on your love for her? Alice and I may have to say something to her to get her head thinking in that direction."

"**She smiled. **_**But I can't imagine anyone being so slow they wouldn't see the catch **_**you **_**are."**_

"Well why don't_ you _be with him then, Esme?" Emmett joked, laughing.

"Edward's the biggest catch _ever_," Jasper laughed with him.

"**Stop it, Mom, you're making me blush," I teased. Her words, though improbable, did cheer me."**

_Not improbable, _Alice thought, sighing.

"**Alice laughed and picked out the top hand of "Heart and Soul." I grinned and completed the simple harmony with her. Then I favoured her with a performance of "Chopsticks."**

**She giggled, then sighed. "So I wish you'd tell me what you were laughing at Rose about," Alice said. "But I can see that you won't."**

"And thank God for that," Rosalie muttered.

"**Nope." **

**She flicked my ear with her finger."**

Esme and Carlisle both shook their heads, amused at her childishness.

"**Be nice, Alice," Esme chided. "Edward is being a gentleman."**

"**But I want to **_**know**_**." **

"Awww, Alice," Rosalie laughed. "You aren't going to know, though."

"**I laughed at the whining tone she put on. Then I said, "Here, Esme," and began playing her favourite song, an unnamed tribute to the love I'd watched between her and Carlisle for so many years."**

"Oh, I do love that song," Esme sighed with longing.

"I'll play it for you soon," Edward assured her.

"That would be nice," Carlisle smiled at Esme. "It has been a while since I've heard it, too."

"**Thank you, dear." She squeezed my shoulder again. **

**I didn't have to concentrate to play the familiar piece. Instead I thought of Rosalie, still figuratively writhing in mortification in the garage, and I grinned to myself."**

Rosalie growled. _Stop it._

"**Having just discovered the potency of jealousy for myself, I had a small amount of pity for her." **

Rosalie suddenly looked mortified, and covered her face with her hands. _Stop it, Edward!_

"What is Rose jealous of?" Alice tilted her head to one side, trying to work it out.

"**It was a wretched way to feel. Of course, her jealousy was a thousand times more petty than mine. Quite the fox in the manger scenario."**

"Something petty," Emmett frowned. "I don't understand."

"Something tells me you're all about to find out," Rosalie spoke quietly from behind her hands.

"**I wondered how Rosalie's life and personality would have been if she had not always been the most beautiful." **

Rosalie dropped her hands, accepting of the fact that it was about to be said, and sighed, irritated. "Luckily I always have been the most beautiful."

"**Would she have been a happier person if beauty hadn't at all times been her strongest selling point? Less egocentric? More compassionate?" **

"I can be all of those things," Rosalie said, outraged. "I just don't show them most of the time."

"She's right," Emmett said. "She mainly shows them with me."

_You're always egocentric, though,_ Alice thought, slightly amused, and Edward grinned.

"**Well, I supposed it was useless to wonder, because the past was done, and she always **_**had**_** been the most beautiful. Even when human, she had ever lived in the spotlight of her own loveliness. Not that she'd minded. The opposite—she'd loved admiration above almost anything else. That hadn't changed with the loss of her mortality."**

Rosalie's eyes narrowed, not sure if he was purposely offending her or if it was unintentional. She was hurt, nonetheless, and Jasper sent her a wave of sympathy and calm emotions to soothe her.

"**It was no surprise then, taking this need as a given, that she'd been offended when I had not, from the beginning, worshipped her beauty the way she expected all males to worship. Not that she'd wanted **_**me **_**in any way—far from it. But it had aggravated her that I did not want her, despite that. She was used to being wanted."**

"Oh," Alice blinked. "I get it."

Rosalie looked at her quickly, searching her face for any signs of mocking amusement, but there was none.

"**It was different with Jasper and Carlisle—they were already both in love. I was completely unattached, and yet still remained obstinately unmoved. **

**I'd thought that old resentment was buried. That she was long passed it. **

**And she had been…until the day that I finally found someone whose beauty touched me the way hers had not."**

Everyone else finally understood, and while Emmett and Jasper looked amused, the others did not.

_Oh Rose,_ Esme sighed.

"**Rosalie had relied on the belief that if I did not find **_**her**_** beauty worth worshipping, then certainly there was no beauty on earth that would reach me. She'd been furious since the moment I'd saved Bella's life, guessing, with her shrewd female intuition, the interest that I was all but unconscious of myself. **

**Rosalie was mortally offended that I found some insignificant human girl more appealing than her."**

Emmett and Jasper both laughed, and Rosalie flashed them an angry glare. If she could have blushed, she would have been completely red right then. She still looked hurt, and Emmett wrapped an arm around her, pulling her to him, and began whispering soothing words in her ear. She calmed down visibly, but she still looked absolutely mortified.

"Let's just move on, shall we?" Rosalie suggested, clearing her throat. "I don't want to dwell on that."

Jasper nodded and began reading once again. **"I suppressed the urge to laugh again. **

**It bothered me some, though, the way she saw Bella. Rosalie actually thought the girl was **_**plain**_**. How could she believe that? It seemed incomprehensible to me. A product of the jealousy, no doubt."**

"You thought she was plain at first," Alice murmured.

"And Rose is actually getting to know her from your thoughts and conversations," Emmett said. "Her opinion is probably very different to the one in the book."

"That's true," Rosalie sighed.

"**Oh!" Alice said abruptly. "Jasper, guess what?" **

**I saw what she'd just seen, and my hands froze on the keys."**

Edward frowned, wondering what she'd seen that could make him react that way.

"**What, Alice?" Jasper asked. **

"**Peter and Charlotte are coming to visit next week! They're going to be in the neighbourhood, isn't that nice?"**

"Oh, no," Edward whispered.

"Oh, calm down Edward," Alice rolled her eyes.

"**What's wrong, Edward?" Esme asked, feeling the tension in my shoulders.**

"**Peter and Charlotte are coming to **_**Forks**_**?" I hissed at Alice.**

**She rolled her eyes at me. "Calm down, Edward. It's not their first visit."**

"But Bella is there!" Edward growled. "Why does she have such bad luck!?"

"Seriously, you need to calm down. Bella will be fine," Emmett shook his head. "You know that stress cuts years from your lifetime, Edward."

Edward glared at him. "Not funny, Emmett."

"**My teeth clenched together. It **_**was**_** their first visit since Bella had arrived, and her sweet blood didn't appeal just to me."**

"But it appeals to you the most," Jasper shrugged. "You need to calm down, Edward. Humans smell good to all vampires."

"**Alice frowned at my expression. "They never hunt here. You know that." **

**But Jasper's brother of sorts and the little vampire he loved were not like us; they hunted the usual way. They could not be trusted around Bella."**

"Somehow I don't think we're going to invite Bella over to meet them," Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"**When?" I demanded. **

**She pursed her lips unhappily, but told me what I needed to know. **_**Monday morning. No one is going to hurt Bella."**_

"No," Edward agreed.

"You are so annoying sometimes," Alice grumbled.

"**No," I agreed, and then turned away from her. "You ready, Emmett?" **

"**I thought we were leaving in the morning?" **

"**We're coming back by midnight Sunday. I guess it's up to you when you want to leave."**

"You are crazy," Emmett shook his head.

"**Okay, fine. Let me say goodbye to Rose first." **

"**Sure." With the mood Rosalie was in, it would be a short goodbye."**

"Hey," Rosalie pouted. "I'll still miss him."

"_**You really have lost it, Edward, **_**he thought as he headed toward the back door. **

"**I suppose I have."**

"He's in love," Alice sighed. "With a human. He's going to be like this from now on."

"Exactly," Edward nodded. "I have to protect her."

_But do you have to be _so_ overprotective?_ Emmett thought. Edward rolled his eyes.

"**Play the new song for me, one more time," Esme asked. **

"**If you'd like that," I agreed, though I was a little hesitant to follow the tune to its unavoidable end—the end that had set me aching in unfamiliar ways." **

"Aching?" Emmett blinked, trying to come up with a dirty joke, but coming up blank instead.

"He's upset," Esme told him. "The ending is sad to him."

"**I thought for a moment, and then pulled the bottle cap from my pocket and set it on the empty music stand. That helped a bit—my little memento of her **_**yes**_**.**

**I nodded to myself, and started playing. **

**Esme and Alice exchanged a glance, but neither one asked."**

"We probably do think you've gone insane," Alice laughed. "Although I'm surprised I wasn't listening to your conversation in the cafeteria."

"I would hope you wouldn't do that," Carlisle scolded. "Let Edward be."

"He gets to listen to _us _when we don't want him to," Rosalie muttered.

"He can't help that," Esme replied calmly.

"**Hasn't anyone ever told you not to play with your food?" I called to Emmett.**

"**Oh, hey Edward!" He shouted back, grinning and waving at me. The bear took advantage of his distraction to rake its heavy paw across Emmett's chest. The sharp claws shredded through his shirt, and squealed across his skin. The bear bellowed at the high-pitched noise. **

_**Aw hell, Rose gave me this shirt!**_**"**

Everyone sighed. Emmett's eating habits were strange to all of them.

"Priorities, Emmett," Alice giggled.

"**Emmett roared back at the enraged animal. **

**I sighed and sat down on a convenient boulder. This might take a while. But Emmett was almost done. He let the bear try to take his head off with another swipe of the paw, laughing as the blow bounced off and sent the bear staggering back." **

"Will you ever be over the fact that a bear almost killed you?" Jasper shook his head. "The world may never know."

"**The bear roared and Emmett roared again through his laughter." **

"Poor bear," Esme murmured. "It must be so confused. Why you can't put an animal out of its misery and instead try to torment it will always confuse me."

"**Then he launched himself at the animal, who stood a head taller than him on its hind legs, and their bodies fell to the ground tangled up together, taking a mature spruce tree down with them. The bear's growls cut off with a gurgle. **

**A few minutes later, Emmett jogged over to where I was waiting for him. His shirt was destroyed, torn and bloodied, sticky with sap and covered in fur. His dark curly hair wasn't in much better shape. He had a huge grin on his face."**

Rosalie shook her head, a small smile on her lips.

"**That was a strong one. I could almost feel it when he clawed me." **

"**You're such a child, Emmett."**

"And no one is surprised by this fact," Jasper muttered.

"**He eyed my smooth, clean white button-down. "Weren't you able to track down that mountain lion, then?" **

"**Of course I was. I just don't eat like a savage."**

Everyone laughed at that.

"No need to be so superior," Emmett grinned. "You make hunting boring."

"We _drink animal blood,_ Emmett. I don't want to enjoy hurting them. I'm not sadistic," Edward sighed.

"**Emmett laughed his booming laugh. "I wish they were stronger. It would be more fun." **

"**No one said you had to fight your food."**

"Exactly," Esme nodded.

"**Yeah, but who else am I going to fight with? You and Alice cheat, Rose never wants to get her hair messed up, and Esme gets mad if Jasper and I **_**really**_** go at it."**

"Or you could not fight at all," Rosalie suggested. "Just an idea."

"**Life is hard all around, isn't it?" **

**Emmett grinned at me, shifting his weight a bit so that he was suddenly poised to take a charge.**

"**C'mon Edward. Just turn it off for one minute and fight fair."**

"**It doesn't turn off," I reminded him."**

"He refuses to believe that," Jasper smirked at Emmett. "It's hilarious how you think we can just stop using our powers."

"**Wonder what that human girl does to keep you out?" Emmett mused. "Maybe she could give me some pointers."**

"I'd love to hear that conversation," Emmett laughed. "_'Hey, Bella, how do you keep Edward from reading your thoughts? I'd like to know so that I might finally beat him in a fight…'_"

"Not funny," Edward's eyes narrowed at him.

"Not funny enough," Emmett disagreed. "I didn't get one chuckle out of that."

"**My good humour vanished. "Stay away from her," I growled through my teeth. **

"**Touchy, touchy." **

"Tell me about it," Rosalie muttered.

"**I sighed. Emmett came to sit beside me on the rock.**

"**Sorry. I know you're going through a tough spot. I really am trying to not be **_**too**_** much of an insensitive jerk, but, since that's sort of my natural state…"**

Emmett sighed. _Jasper would have laughed at that._

Edward rolled his eyes.

"**He waited for me to laugh at his joke, and then made a face. **

_**So serious all the time. What's bugging you now?**_

"**Thinking about her. Well, worrying, really."**

"That's all you ever do," Alice laughed. "Even if she became a vampire you'd be worrying about her." _Like Jasper does with me._

"**What's there to worry about? **_**You **_**are **_**here.**_**" He laughed loudly."**

"Peter and Charlotte are on their way," Edward muttered. "That's what's eating at me, probably."

"**I ignored his joke again, but answered his question. "Have you ever thought about how fragile they all are? How many bad things there are that can happen to a mortal?"**

"**Not really. I guess I see what you mean, though. I wasn't much match for a bear that first time around, was I?"**

"Nope," Emmett agreed. "I wish I could have gone and re-met that same bear after I'd been turned."

Rosalie sighed loudly. "You and your irritated fascination with bears."

"It's why you love me, isn't it?" Emmett joked.

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Yes. That's _exactly _why."

"**Bears," I muttered, adding a new fear to the pile. "That would be just her luck, wouldn't it? Stray bear in town. Of course it would head straight for Bella."**

"What?" Jasper laughed. "What an odd thing to say."

"I think he's referring to her awful bad luck," Carlisle chuckled.

"And how the van kept coming back to try and hit her," Edward sighed. "What did she do to annoy someone so much that they cursed her with such bad luck?"

"**Emmett chuckled. "You sound like a crazy person, do you know that?"**

"**Just imagine for one minute that Rosalie was human, Emmett." **

Rosalie made a face at that, trying to ignore how her heart sang for just that.

"**And she could run into a bear…or get hit by a car…or **_**lightning**_**…or fall down stairs…or get sick—get a **_**disease**_**!" **

"A lot of things to worry about," Edward shook his head in horror.

"**The words burst from me stormily. It was a relief to let them out—they'd been festering inside me all weekend." **

"I would have loved to hear him thinking about that," Alice laughed, "compiling a list in his head of everything that could hurt Bella."

"**Fires and earthquakes and tornados!" **

_Oh, my! _Everyone thought with a grin.

"**Ugh! When's the last time you watched the news? Have you **_**seen**_** the kinds of things that happen to them? Burglaries and homicides…" My teeth clenched together, and I was abruptly so infuriated by the idea of another **_**human**_** hurting her that I couldn't breathe."**

"A human won't hurt her," Jasper assured him. "Especially if you're around."

"Exactly – one look from you and they'd run in the opposite direction," Emmett agreed.

"**Whoa, whoa! Hold up, there, kid. She lives in Forks, remember? So she gets rained on." He shrugged."**

Everybody laughed at this.

"I'm not wrong," Emmett chuckled. "Rain. The death of Bella Swan."

"**I think she has some serious bad luck, Emmett, I really do. Look at the evidence. Of all the places in the world she could go, she ends up in a town where **_**vampires**_** make up a significant portion of the population." **

"**Yeah, but we're vegetarians. So isn't that good luck, not bad?"**

"Again, I'm not wrong," Emmett said.

"You're such a pessimist," Alice agreed with Emmett. "Nothing will happen to Bella."

"**With the way she smells? Definitely bad. And then, more bad luck, the way she smells to **_**me**_**." I glowered at my hands, hating them again.**

"**Except that you have more self-control than just about anyone but Carlisle. Good luck again." **

"Why can't you just listen to me for once?" Emmett muttered. "I'm speaking perfect sense over here. Or, _there,_ I should say."

"**The van?"**

"**That was just an accident."**

Emmett pointed at the book. "See? _Perfect sense!_"

"And loads of optimism!" Jasper agreed.

"**You should have seen it coming for her, Em, again and again. I swear, it was like she had some kind of magnetic pull." **

"**But you were there. That was good luck."**

"I honestly don't think you can change Edward's mind," Emmett shook his head in utter disbelief. "There's a reason why we call him the king of stubborn."

Edward rolled his eyes.

"**Was it? Isn't this the worst luck any human could ever possibly have—to have a **_**vampire**_** fall in**_** love**_** with them?"**

"How?" Alice exclaimed. "You're like, the best protector a human could ask for."

"But it's not the fact that you're a vampire," Esme rushed to add, "It's _you_ that she will love. Being a vampire is just a part of you."

"**Emmett considered that quietly for a moment. He pictured the girl in his head, and found the image uninteresting. **_**Honestly, I can't really see the draw."**_

Edward's eyes narrowed at him in anger. "How dare you."

Emmett held up his hands. "Woah, Edward. _I _don't think that. This is book me. Different person."

"**Well, I can't really see Rosalie's allure, either," I said rudely. "**_**Honestly**_**, she seems like more work than any pretty face is worth."**

Now it was Emmett's turn to glare at Edward. He was angry, but then he realised it was just a retaliated response to his own comment, and calmed down.

"**Emmett chuckled. "I don't suppose you'd tell me…" **

"**I don't know what her problem is, Emmett," I lied with a sudden, wide grin. I saw his intent in time to brace myself. He tried to shove me off the rock, and there was a loud cracking sound as a fissure opened in the stone between us."**

"So unfair," Emmett sighed.

"**Cheater," he muttered. **

**I waited for him to try another time, but his thoughts took a different direction. **

**He was picturing Bella's face again, but imagining it whiter, imagining her eyes bright red…"**

Edward groaned. "No. Never."

"**No," I said, my voice strangled. **

"**It solves your worries about mortality, doesn't it? And then you wouldn't want to kill her, either. Isn't that the best way?"**

"But she would hate me forever if I just took her to Carlisle and asked him to change her," Edward shuddered.

"**For me? Or for her?" **

"**For you," he answered easily. His tone added the **_**of course.**_

**I laughed humourlessly. "Wrong answer."**

"**I didn't mind so much," he reminded me."**

"But you were dying," Edward sighed. "Bella's just…living her life normally."

"A good point," Emmett replied quietly.

"**Rosalie did." **

**He sighed. We both knew that Rosalie would do anything, give up anything, if it meant she could be human again. Even Emmett."**

Rosalie made a face, but didn't deny it or try to soothe him.

"**Yeah, Rose did," he acquiesced quietly.**

"**I can't… I shouldn't… I'm **_**not**_** going to ruin Bella's life. Wouldn't you feel the same, if it were Rosalie?"**

"Yeah," Emmett sighed.

"**Emmett thought about that for a moment. **_**You really…love her? **_

"**I can't even describe it, Emmett. All of a sudden, this girl's the whole world to me. I don't see the **_**point**_** of the rest of the world without her anymore."**

"It's weird that I don't believe you," Emmett said.

"Well, we have a direct link to his thoughts, remember?" Jasper said. "I bet we all doubt it. A little. Alice, Esme and Carlisle might be the only ones who believe it."

"_**But you won't change her? She won't last forever, Edward."**_

"A good point," Alice said. "What are you going to do about that?"

"Nothing," Edward mumbled. "I can't hurt her that way."

"She'll be with you forever if she's a vampire, though. I thought you'd want that."

"Yes, but would _she?_"

"You'll know when she finds out what you are and she's fallen in love with you."

"**I know that," I groaned. **

_**And, as you've pointed out, she's sort of breakable.**_**"**

"'_Sort of'_," Jasper quoted with a grin.

"**Trust me—that I know, too."**

"Edward knows that more than most," Alice laughed.

"**Emmett was not a tactful person, and delicate discussions were not his forte. He struggled now, wanting very much not to be offensive.**

_**Can you even touch her? I mean, if you **_**love**_** her…wouldn't you want to, well **_**touch**_** her…?**_

**Emmett and Rosalie shared an intensely physical love. He had a hard time understanding how one **_**could**_** love, without that aspect.**

**I sighed. "I can't even think of that, Emmett."**

"That would take a lot of convincing to get Edward going in _that_ direction," Rosalie giggled.

"_**Wow. So what are your options, then? **_

"**I don't know," I whispered. "I'm trying to figure out a way to…to leave her. I just can't fathom how to make myself stay away…"**

"Still the most ridiculous thing you've ever said," Alice rolled her eyes. "There's no way you can leave her. None at all." _Unless she specifically orders you away._

"**With a deep sense of gratification, I suddenly realized that it was **_**right**_** for me to stay—at least for now, with Peter and Charlotte on their way. She was safer with me here, temporarily, than she would be if I were gone. For the moment, I could be her unlikely protector."**

"You're going to keep coming up with excuses to stay, the more time goes on," Carlisle guessed.

"Of course he is," Alice agreed. "This is why it's a ridiculous notion to even entertain."

"**The thought made me anxious; I itched to be back so that I could fill that role for as long as possible."**

Alice only gestured at the book to emphasise her point.

"**Emmett noticed the change in my expression. **_**What are you thinking about? **_

"**Right now," I admitted a bit sheepishly, "I'm dying to run back to Forks and check on her. I don't know if I'll make it till Sunday night."**

"**Uh-uh! You are **_**not **_**going home early. Let Rosalie cool down a little bit. Please! For my sake."**

"**I'll try to stay," I said doubtfully. **

**Emmett tapped the phone in my pocket. "Alice would call if there were any basis for your panic attack. She's as weird about this girl as you are."**

"We're not_ weird_ about her," Alice said. "We _love _her. In different ways obviously, but still!"

"**I grimaced at that. "Fine. But I'm not staying past Sunday."**

"Going back," Alice sighed. "I could throttle you, Edward. All you want is to go back and yet you're thinking of leaving. It makes no sense."

"**There's no point in hurrying back—it's going to be sunny, anyway. Alice said we were free from school until Wednesday."**

"Fantastic," Edward groaned. "More time away from her."

"You'll be watching from afar," Jasper chuckled.

"**I shook my head rigidly. **

"**Peter and Charlotte know how to behave themselves."**

"And they'll be extra careful when we tell them about Bella," Alice agreed.

"**I really don't care, Emmett. With Bella's luck, she'll go wandering off into the woods at exactly the wrong moment and—" I flinched. "Peter isn't known for his self-control. I'm going back Sunday." **

**Emmett sighed. **_**Exactly like a crazy person."**_

"I'm not wrong," Emmett repeated with a chuckle.

"**Bella was sleeping peacefully when I climbed up to her bedroom window early Monday morning. I'd remembered oil this time, and the window now moved silently out of my way."**

"So creepy," Rosalie said with a laugh.

"**I could tell by the way her hair lay smooth across the pillow that she'd had a less restless night than the last time I was here. She had her hands folded under her cheek like a small child, and her mouth was slightly open. I could hear her breath moving slowly in and out between her lips."**

Edward visibly relaxed as well. It was surprising that his absence from her in the _book_ could affect him, but it had. _Perhaps Alice is right…_

"**It was an amazing relief to be here, to be able to see her again. I realized that I wasn't truly at ease unless that was the case. Nothing was right when I was away from her."**

"Exactly," Alice agreed. "You're not leaving. I won't allow it."

"**Not that all was right when I was with her, either, though. I sighed, letting the thirst fire rake through my throat. I'd been away from it too long. The time spent without pain and temptation made it all the more forceful now." **

"And yet you consider it but an annoyance," Carlisle remarked.

"**It was bad enough that I was afraid to go kneel beside her bed so that I could read the titles of her books. I wanted to know the stories in her head, but I was afraid of more than my thirst, afraid that if I let myself get that close to her, I would want to be closer still…"**

_To what, exactly?_ Emmett thought with a grin.

"I want to know what books and music she likes," Edward grumbled, ignoring what Emmett thought.

"Of course you do. You're so predictable," Rosalie grinned at him.

"**Her lips looked very soft and warm. I could imagine touching them with the tip of my finger. Just lightly…"**

Edward looked ridiculously tormented and tortured from hearing this.

"**That was exactly the kind of mistake that I had to avoid."**

Edward nodded slowly, trying to agree with himself, but the image was too tempting.

"**My eyes ran over her face again and again, examining it for changes. Mortals changed all the time—I was sad at the thought of missing anything… **

**I thought she looked…tired. Like she hadn't gotten enough sleep this weekend. Had she gone out?"**

"She's tired because…because she was frightened!" Emmett slammed his hand down on his leg.

"Frightened of what?" Alice raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe she watched a scary movie," Rosalie chuckled.

"I was kidding, guys," Emmett replied.

"We know."

"**I laughed silently and wryly at how much that upset me. So what if she had? I didn't own her. She wasn't mine.**

**No, she wasn't mine—and I was sad again."**

Edward sighed, staring at his hands.

Esme stroked his back soothingly. "It will be fine, Edward."

He smiled half-heartedly.

"**One of her hands twitched, and I noticed that there were shallow, barely healed scrapes across the heel of her palm. She'd been hurt? Even though it was obviously not a serious injury, it still disturbed me. I considered the location, and decided she must have tripped. That seemed a reasonable explanation, all things considered."**

"Of course she tripped," Alice laughed. "She's _Bella._"

"**It was comforting to think that I wouldn't have to puzzle over either of these small mysteries forever. We were **_**friends**_** now—or, at least, trying to be friends. I could ask her about her weekend—about the beach, and whatever late night activity had made her look so weary. I could ask what had happened to her hands. And I could laugh a little when she confirmed my theory about them."**

"That is indeed reassuring," Edward agreed with a smile. "I might really have gone insane if I couldn't ask her about anything."

"**I smiled gently as I wondered whether or not she **_**had**_** fallen in the ocean. I wondered if she'd had a pleasant time on the outing. I wondered if she'd thought about me at all. If she'd missed me even the tiniest portion of the amount that I'd missed her."**

"She would have thought about you," Rosalie assured him. "But there's no way on earth she missed you as much as you missed her."

"**I tried to picture her in the sun on the beach. The picture was incomplete, though, because I'd never been to First Beach myself. I only knew how it looked in pictures… I felt a tiny qualm of unease as I thought about the reason why I'd never once been to the pretty beach located just a few minutes run from my home." **

"There are plenty more prettier beaches than First Beach," Emmett snorted. "We can go to a beach if you desperately want to."

Edward rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean I wanted to _go _there, Em."

"**Bella had spent the day at La Push—a place where I was forbidden, by treaty, to go. A place where a few old men still remembered the stories about the Cullens, remembered and believed them. **

**A place where our secret was known…"**

"She couldn't have found out," Rosalie shook her head. "Otherwise that would mean we would get to go and kill them all if we wanted to."

"**I shook my head. I had nothing to worry about there. The Quileutes were bound by treaty, too. Even had Bella run into one of those aging sages, they could reveal nothing. And why would the subject ever be broached? Why would Bella think to voice her curiosity there? No—the Quileutes were perhaps the **_**one**_** thing I did not have to worry about."**

"It still brings up the sticky question," Alice pursed her lips. "How _will_ she find out what we are?"

Nobody knew how to answer that, and Alice, in vain, tried to search the future for a possible answer.

"**I was angry with the sun when it began to rise." **

"That's the sun's job," Emmett joked. "Don't be angry with the poor guy. Or girl."

"**It reminded me that I could not satisfy my curiosity for days to come. Why did it choose to shine now?"**

"Or you could absolutely cover every inch of your skin so that you might get to go to school anyway," Rosalie laughed.

"**With a sigh, I ducked out her window before it was light enough for anyone to see me here. I meant to stay in the thick forest by her house and see her off to school, but when I got into the trees, I was surprised to find the trace of her scent lingering on the trail there."**

Everyone looked at the book in concern.

"What…?" Edward frowned.

"**I followed it quickly, curiously, becoming more and more worried as it led deeper into the darkness. What had Bella been doing out **_**here**_**?**

**The trail stopped abruptly, in the middle of nowhere in particular. She'd gone just a few steps off the trail, into the ferns, where she'd touched the trunk of a fallen tree.**

**Perhaps sat there…"**

"How peculiar," Alice remarked. "I wonder what she was thinking about."

"We may never know," Edward muttered, annoyed by this.

"**I sat where she had, and looked around. All she would have been able to see was ferns and forest. It had probably been raining—the scent was washed out, having never set deeply into the tree. **

**Why would Bella have come to sit here alone—and she had been alone, no doubt about that—in the middle of the wet, murky forest?"**

"She could have received some bad news and needed to go and cope with it," Carlisle pondered. "Or she was doing homework…or anything really. I wish we _could_ know."

"**It made no sense, and, unlike those other points of curiosity, I could hardly bring this up in casual conversation."**

Edward sighed. "This is so annoying."

"_**So, Bella, I was following your scent through the woods after I left your room where I'd been watching you sleep…"**_

"That would be the most casual conversation ever," Emmett laughed, amused.

"**Yes, that would be quite the ice breaker. I would never know what she'd been thinking and doing here, and that had my teeth grinding together in frustration." **

"If I hadn't gone on the trip with Emmett, I might have known," Edward growled. "I really don't think I'll be going on it now, in real life."

"**Worse, this was far too much like the scenario I'd imagined for Emmett—Bella wandering alone in the woods, where her scent would call to anyone who had the senses to track it… **

**I groaned. Not only did she have bad luck, but she courted it."**

"But she doesn't know that," Alice defended her. "She is innocent. It's us who have to be careful."

"**Well, for this moment she had a protector. I would watch over her, keep her from harm, for as long as I could justify it."**

"Which will probably end up being all of eternity," Jasper laughed.

"**I suddenly found myself wishing that Peter and Charlotte would make an extended stay."**

"And that's the end of the chapter," Jasper concluded.

"I'll read the next one," Edward said, taking the book from him.

"I can't wait to see if there's a dramatic plot twist that ends with Peter and Charlotte actually killing Bella," Emmett joked.

Edward leaned over and hit him hard on the arm.

**A/N: And thus, another chapter ends. Leave a review if you enjoyed it, and I shall return as soon as I am able! It's so soon until Edward finds out that Bella knows he's a vampire! :D :D :D**


	8. Chapter 8: Ghost

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for all of your reviews on the last chapter (I think I got the most for a single chapter from it, yay!) Everyone has just been so overwhelmingly supportive so thank you all *kisses all of your cheeks***

**twistoryteller, yes! I've mentioned before that I've already planned how the lead-up to Bella's arrival and her first day will go, so you will see them meet her :) And yes, it will be different to the book – in what way I don't want to spoil – but obviously Edward is not going to want to kill her on her first day and he will already be in love with her. But before that happens, there's Twilight for the Cullens to read!**

**newlight, I know, I don't really know how to feel about that either. A part of me doesn't think that Rosalie would _actually _give up Emmett to become human, but Stephenie did right it into this so :/ I kind of just wanted to breeze over that and not dwell on it too much because I don't know what to make of it either. Anyway, on with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Midnight Sun, nor any of the characters in it.**

Chapter Eight: Ghost

Edward took the book from Jasper and started reading. **"Ghost,"** he began.

"Well that's not right," Emmett chuckled. "We're not _ghosts._"

"Maybe it has something to do with the weather," Alice guessed.

"How on earth does that have something to do with the weather, Alice?" Rose raised both of her eyebrows in amusement.

Alice only looked at her, her eyes sparkling. "Because that's how Edward's going to be, Rose. He's going to following and watching Bella from afar like a ghost because of the sun."

"You have a point," Rosalie said, and then burst into laughter.

"**I did not see much of Jasper's guests for the two sunny days that they were in Forks. I only went home at all so that Esme wouldn't worry." **

"Yep," Jasper laughed too. "All he's doing is following Bella around."

"She's going to start thinking of you as a dog if you keep that up," Emmett chuckled.

"He's not _literally _following her, Em," Jasper told him. "He's just…following her in the minds of everybody."

"**Otherwise, my existence seemed more like that of a spectre than a vampire." **

"Ah," Alice nodded, with a quick grin of pleasure. "I was right."

"When _aren't_ you right," Emmett muttered under his breath.

"**I hovered, invisible in the shadows, where I could follow the object of my love and obsession—where I could see her and hear her in the minds of the lucky humans who could walk through the sunlight beside her, sometimes accidentally brushing the back of her hand with their own. She never reacted to such contact; their hands were just as warm as hers."**

"You still think that she jerked her hand away because of the coldness of your hand," Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"He's going to unless Bella openly tells him otherwise," Alice sighed. "But even then he may not believe her."

"**The enforced absence from school had never been a trial like this before. But the sun seemed to make her happy, so I could not resent it too much. Anything that pleased her was in my good graces."**

Edward smiled at that. "I can imagine how happy it would make her."

"Yeah, it sounds like it's the first sunlight she's seen since she arrived in Forks," Alice nodded, smiling also. "She'd be basking in it."

"**Monday morning, I eavesdropped on a conversation that had the potential to destroy my confidence and make the time spent away from her a torture." **

Edward's smile fell away and he looked at the book in suspicion. _What…?_

"**As it ended up, though, it rather made my day."**

Edward breathed a quiet sigh of relief, even though he wasn't sure why he was relieved. It was really just a relief to know that his book self wasn't worried about this conversation.

"**I had to feel some little respect for Mike Newton; he had not simply given up and slunk away to nurse his wounds. He had more bravery than I'd given him credit for. He was going to try again."**

Emmett laughed at that. "Aw, Edward isn't even there! He can't do anything to stop it!"

"Please, like Bella would go out with _Mike_," Rosalie flipped her hair in annoyance. "She's too good for that jackass."

"**Bella got to school quite early and, seeming intent on enjoying the sun while it lasted, sat at one of the seldom used picnic benches while she waited for the first bell to ring. Her hair caught the sun in unexpected ways, giving off a reddish shine that I had not anticipated."**

Edward tried to picture this, and was disappointed to find he could not. He hadn't seen her in person before, let alone how her hair looked in the sunlight._ All the more reason I should just run to Phoenix _now, he thought bitterly.

"**Mike found her there, doodling again, and was thrilled at his good luck."**

Edward's eyes narrowed.

"Calm down, Edward," Jasper sighed.

"Seriously, bro. She doesn't like him in that way. If she did she would've taken him to the girl's choice dance," Emmett assured his brother.

"**It was agonizing to only be able to watch, powerless, bound to the forest's shadows by the bright sunlight."**

"I wonder if you'd stay _bound_ there if, say, he kissed her," Emmett chuckled.

Edward winced at the image that painted, and then glared at his brother. "That isn't funny."

"**She greeted him with enough enthusiasm to make him ecstatic, and me the opposite."**

"She's just in a good mood because of the sun," Rosalie said, sighing. "You need to calm down."

"_**See, she likes me. She wouldn't smile like that if she didn't. I bet she wanted to go to the dance with me." **_

Edward rolled his eyes. "You wish."

"He sure does," Jasper grinned, feeling Edward's jealousy.

"_**Wonder what's so important in Seattle…**_

**He perceived the change in her hair. "I never noticed before—your hair has red in it."**

**I accidentally uprooted the young spruce tree my hand was resting on when he pinched a strand of her hair between his fingers."**

Edward growled.

"Sheesh, Edward," Alice shook her head. "You can be jealous, that's totally normal, but there's no way Bella is going to be enjoying this."

"**Only in the sun," she said. To my deep satisfaction, she cringed away from him slightly when he tucked the strand behind her ear."**

"See?" Alice murmured smugly. "When am I ever wrong?"

"Yes, yes, Alice," Edward rolled his eyes.

"**It took Mike a minute to build up his courage, wasting some time on small talk. She reminded him of the essay we all had due on Wednesday. From the faintly smug expression on her face, hers was already done." **

Everybody chuckled at that.

"Oh, Bella," Esme sighed, smiling. "She reminds me of you all."

"How?" Rosalie wondered.

"You are all the same when you've completed something before the others have," she smiled. "My little competitive vampires."

"**He'd forgotten altogether, and that severely diminished his free time. **

_**Dang—stupid essay."**_

Edward chuckled at that, pleased.

"**Finally he got to the point—my teeth were clenched so hard they could have pulverized granite—and even then, he couldn't make himself ask the question outright.**

"**I was going to ask if you wanted to go out." **

"**Oh," she said."**

"Oh Bella," Rose laughed.

"She really is so unused to this attention," Alice giggled.

"**There was a brief silence. **

_**Oh? What does that mean? Is she going to yes? Wait—I guess I didn't really ask."**_

Edward rolled his eyes. "I would hope Bella would have more sense than to go out with _him._"

"**He swallowed hard.**

"**Well, we could go to dinner or something…and I could work on it later."**

"Real smooth," Emmett muttered.

"_**Stupid—that wasn't a question either."**_

_Nope,_ Jasper agreed.

"**Mike…"**

"That sounds like a lead-in to _no_," Rosalie smirked. "Good on Bella."

"**The agony and fury of my jealousy was every bit as powerful as it had been last week." **

Jasper sampled Edward's current emotions, and was not surprised to find that he was about the same as his book self. They hadn't been able to calm him down enough, and he was quite worried that she would actually say yes to Mike Newton, all the while being disgusted that he thought she should be with him, a vampire, rather than Mike, who was human. Jasper hurried to calm him down, but Edward barely noticed.

"**I broke another tree trying to hold myself here. I wanted so badly to race across the campus, too fast for human eyes, and snatch her up—to steal her away–"**

"I hope you would do such a thing," Emmett grinned. "Bella's reaction to that would be priceless."

"–**from the boy that I hated so much in this moment I could have kill him and enjoyed it."**

Carlisle frowned, as did Esme, and they flashed a quick, concerned look to their son.

"**Would she say yes to him?"**

Alice shook her head.

"**I don't think that would be the best idea."**

Alice beamed. _Told ya._

Edward rolled his eyes, but Jasper could sense him calming down again.

"**I breathed again. My rigid body relaxed.**

_**Seattle was just an excuse, after all. Shouldn't have asked. What was I thinking? Bet it's that freak, Cullen…"**_

All of the Cullens laughed, Edward really hoping that that was indeed the case.

"**Why?" he asked sullenly. **

"**I think…" she hesitated. "And if you ever repeat what I'm saying right now I will cheerfully beat you to death—"**

All of the Cullens laughed again, Edward louder than the others.

"Oh, man," Emmett said, wiping away fake tears, "Bella is just the coolest."

"**I laughed out loud at the sound of a death threat coming through her lips. A jay shrieked, startled, and launched itself away from me."**

"How rude!" Emmett said, placing a hand over his heart in hurt. "You interrupted that jay's day!"

Edward rolled his eyes.

"**But I think that would hurt Jessica's feelings."**

"**Jessica?" **_**What? But… Oh. Okay. I guess… So… Huh.**_

**His thoughts were no longer coherent. **

"**Really, Mike, are you **_**blind**_**?"**

"He really is," Rosalie muttered. "Even I've seen that Jessica likes him."

"Boys can be just as oblivious when it comes to love, Rose," Alice grinned at Edward. "Just look at our darling brother."

"**I echoed her sentiment. She shouldn't expect everyone to be as perceptive as she was, but really this instance was beyond obvious. With as much trouble as Mike had had working himself up to ask Bella out, did he imagine it wasn't just as difficult for Jessica?**

**It must be selfishness that made him blind to others. And Bella was so unselfish, she saw everything."**

"But your view of Bella is incredibly biased," Rosalie murmured. "Not everyone is selfish, Edward."

"_**Jessica. Huh. Wow. Huh.**_** "Oh," he managed to say. **

**Bella used his confusion to make her exit. **

"**It's time for class, and I can't be late again." **

**Mike became an unreliable viewpoint from then on." **

"Oh no!" Emmett gasped. "Now what will Edward do!?"

"**He found, as he turned the idea of Jessica around and around in his head, that he rather liked the thought of her finding him attractive. It was second place, not as good as if Bella had felt that way."**

Edward's eyes narrowed.

"_**She's cute, though, I guess. Decent body. A bird in the hand…**_**"**

"I hope he wasn't thinking that about Bella," Edward said, a cold tone to his voice.

"**He was off then, on to new fantasies that were just as vulgar as the ones about Bella, but now they only irritated rather than infuriated." **

"Looks like he was thinking that way about Bella," Rosalie growled.

Edward was thinking along the same line as Rosalie, but was ten times as furious.

"**How little he deserved either girl; they were almost interchangeable to him. I stayed clear of his head after that."**

"Good," Esme said. "He doesn't seem like the best person, anyway."

"**When she was out of sight, I curled up against the cool trunk of an enormous madrone tree–"**

"Edward, come on. Now all I can picture is you as a cat," Emmett shook his head as if this greatly upset him.

"–**and I danced from mind to mind, keeping her in sight, always glad when Angela Weber was available to look through. I wished there was some way to thank the Weber girl for simply being a nice person. It made me feel better to think that Bella had one friend worth having."**

"She only has _one_ friend who you think is nice?" Alice pursed her lips. "You should let us befriend her already, then. We'd be nice to her."

Edward sighed.

"**I watched Bella's face from whichever angle I was given, and I could see that she was sad again." **

"I wonder whyyyy," Rosalie sang.

"**This surprised me—I thought the sun would be enough to keep her smiling." **

"But apparently she misses you enough that the sun _isn't_ enough," Alice smiled at Edward. "I wouldn't be surprised if she's falling for you already."

"**At lunch, I saw her glance time and time again toward the empty Cullen table, and that thrilled me. It gave me hope. Perhaps she missed me, too."**

"Or she misses the whole lot of us am I right!" Emmett crowed.

"**She had plans to go out with the other girls—I automatically planned my own surveillance—but these plans were postponed when Mike invited Jessica out on the date he'd planned for Bella."**

Rosalie tilted her head to one side. "I'm not sure if I am okay with that happening either."

"Me either, Rose," Esme murmured. "He doesn't seem like the most thoughtful, doting boy."

"I don't think that matters to Jessica," Carlisle chuckled.

"**So I went straight to her home instead, doing a quick sweep of the woods to make sure no one dangerous had wandered too close." **

"I really don't know why you think Peter and Charlotte would dare coming with one mile of Bella's house," Jasper rolled his eyes. "I've probably warned them away from Forks so much they might never go into the town itself."

"**I knew Jasper had warned his one-time brother–" **

_One-time brother?_ Jasper thought, amused.

"–**to avoid the town—citing my insanity as both explanation and warning—" **

"Exactly," Jasper laughed.

"I wonder what they think of you," Alice laughed with him. "I hope you go and talk to them in this. It'd be a shame if we never heard how insane they really think you are."

"–**but I wasn't taking any chances. Peter and Charlotte had no intention of causing animosity with my family, but intentions were changeable things…"**

"So overdramatic!" Emmett sighed.

"**All right, I was overdoing it. I knew that."**

"Just a _little_," Alice giggled.

"**As if she knew I was watching, as if she took pity on the agony I felt when I couldn't see her, Bella came out to the backyard after a long hour indoors." **

"Oh, I'm absolutely sure that that was why she came outside," Rosalie rolled her eyes. "I bet it had nothing to do with her wanting to enjoy the sun while it lasted and that all she wanted to do was let you watch her."

"**She had a book in her hand and a blanket under her arm. **

**Silently, I climbed into the higher branches of the closest tree overlooking the yard. **

**She spread the blanket on the damp grass and then lay on her stomach and started flipping through the worn book, as if trying to find her place. I read over her shoulder. **

**Ah—more classics. She was an Austen fan."**

Edward pursed his lips, taking in this information, all the while wondering which story she was reading. _Or re-reading,_ he thought, as he described the book as worn.

"**She read quickly, crossing and recrossing her ankles in the air. I was watching the sunlight and wind play in her hair when her body suddenly stiffened," **

"She knows you're there!" Emmett shouted, pointing at the book.

"–**and her hand froze on the page. All I saw was that she'd reached chapter three when she roughly grabbed a thick section of pages and shoved them over."**

Emmett blinked. "Well, now I look foolish."

Rosalie shook her head, laughing at his puzzlement.

"**I caught a glance of a title page, **_**Mansfield Park. **_**She was starting a new story—the book was a compilation of novels. I wondered why she'd switched stories so abruptly."**

"I bet I know why," Alice chuckled. "Guess which name was absurdly popular at the time of Jane Austen?"

Edward knew immediately what she meant. "You think she's mad at the books because my name is in a lot of them?"

Alice nodded.

"I suppose…"

"Oh come on, she obviously misses you and has no idea why you aren't at school, so that would be just the icing on the cake."

"**Just a few moments later, she slammed the book angrily shut. With a fierce scowl on her face, she pushed the book aside and flipped over onto her back. She took a deep breath, as if to calm herself, pushed her sleeves up and closed her eyes. I remembered the novel, but I couldn't think of anything offensive in it to upset her. Another mystery. I sighed."**

"I think that that would be a lot easier to bring up than what she was doing walking in the woods by herself," Emmett laughed.

"**She lay very still, moving just once to yank her hair away from her face. It fanned out over her head, a river of chestnut. And then she was motionless again.**

**Her breathing slowed. After several long minutes her lips began to tremble. Mumbling in her sleep. **

**Impossible to resist." **

Rosalie groaned. "You're about to do something very stupid, aren't you?"

"I think he is," Jasper shook his head. "Edward…"

"**I listened as far out as I could, catching voices in the houses nearby. **

_**Two tablespoons of flour…one cup of milk… **_

_**C'mon! Get it through the hoop! Aw, c'mon! **_

_**Red, or blue…or maybe I should wear something more casual… **_

**There was no one close by. I jumped to the ground, landing silently on my toes."**

Rosalie's eyes tightened slightly, and her jaw set. Edward looked at her briefly and cringed, seeing how upset she looked at what she knew was about to happen. Rosalie was always so worried about the exposure of her family's secret, and Edward had crossed the line.

"**This was very wrong, very risky. How condescendingly I'd once judged Emmett for his thoughtless ways and Jasper for his lack of discipline—and now I was consciously flouting all the rules with a wild abandon that made their lapses look like nothing at all."**

"You're going to go over to her, aren't you?" Emmett said as it dawned on him.

"What do you expect? It's Bella and she's sleep-talking," Alice sighed. "It's not right, but there's not much we can do to stop him."

"**I used to be the responsible one."**

"I think Rosalie and Alice are much more responsible than you, Edward," Esme smiled. "But out of _you_ three," she swept her eyes over Emmett, Jasper and Edward, "then yes. Absolutely."

"Thanks," Emmett said, putting on a fake-hurt expression.

"**I sighed, but crept out into the sunshine, regardless.**

**I avoided looking at myself in the sun's glare. It was bad enough that my skin was stone and inhuman in shadow; I didn't want to look at Bella and myself side by side in the sunlight. The difference between us was already insurmountable, painful enough without this image also in my head."**

Edward's eyebrows pulled together as he read this, sounding upset. Esme and Carlisle reached out to comfort him as soon as they saw this.

"**But I couldn't ignore the rainbow sparkles that reflected onto her skin when I got closer.**

**My jaw locked at the sight. Could I be any more of a freak? I imagined her terror if she opened her eyes now…"**

"I'm pretty sure she'd think that she was dreaming," Emmett said.

"**I started to retreat, but she mumbled again, holding me there. **

"**Mmm… Mmm." **

**Nothing intelligible. Well, I would wait for a bit."**

"Of course you will," Rosalie sighed.

"**I carefully stole her book, stretching my arm out and holding my breath while I was close, just in case. I started breathing again when I was a few yards away; tasting the way the sunshine and open air affected her scent. The heat seemed to sweeten the smell."**

"So she smells amazing anyway, but then just add water or sunlight and she's even more amazing?" Emmett chuckled.

"**My throat flamed with desire, the fire fresh and fierce again because I had been away from her for too long."**

"Yet you do not sound like you're about to lean over and rip her throat out," Rosalie muttered.

Edward winced. "No. I do not sound like I'm about to do that. Thank you, Rosalie, for that image."

"Welcome."

"**I spent a moment controlling that, and then—forcing myself to breathe through my nose—I let her book fall open in my hands. She'd started with the first book… I flipped through the pages quickly to the third chapter of **_**Sense and Sensibility**_**, searching for something potentially offensive in Austen's overly polite prose. **

**When my eyes stopped automatically at my name—the character Edward Ferrars being introduced for the first time—Bella spoke again."**

"See?" Alice murmured smugly. "I'm the best."

"**Mmm. Edward." She sighed."**

_Take that out of context and it suddenly becomes a _lot _more interesting,_ Emmett thought, winking at Edward. Edward sighed, not having the energy to tell him to shut up.

"**This time I did not fear that she had awoken. Her voice was just a low, wistful murmur. Not the scream of fear it would have been if she'd seen me now."**

"I disagree," Alice said, shrugging. "I think if she woke up, she would sound surprised or confused. Definitely dazed. She wouldn't scream because it would be too strange to witness."

"**Joy warred with self-loathing. She was still dreaming of me, at least."**

"Is she really, though?" Jasper said rhetorically.

"**Edmund. Ahh. Too….close…"**

**Edmund?"**

"_I_ knew it," Jasper chuckled. "She's comparing the names to you."

"That's still technically dreaming about him," Rosalie murmured.

"**Ha! She wasn't dreaming of me at all, I realized blackly. The self-loathing returned in force. She was dreaming of fictional characters. So much for my conceit."**

"But she's comparing them to you, Eddie!" Emmett laughed.

"**I replaced her book, and stole back into the cover of the shadows—where I belonged."**

"It would be funny if you put it in the wrong place and she wakes up and is immediately suspicious of that," Emmett said, chuckling once again.

"**The afternoon passed and I watched, feeling helpless again, as the sun slowly sank in the sky and the shadows crawled across the lawn toward her." **

"That paints an interesting picture," Carlisle said, imagining it.

"**I wanted to push them back, but the darkness was inevitable; the shadows took her. When the light was gone, her skin looked too pale—ghostly. Her hair was dark again, almost black against her face."**

"She sounds like a vampire," Alice smirked.

"**It was a frightening thing to watch—like witnessing Alice's visions come to fruition." **

"It'll happen someday," Alice waved a hand in assurance.

"**Bella's steady, strong heartbeat was the only reassurance, the sound that kept this moment from feeling like a nightmare."**

Edward nodded, understanding, and most of all _not_ listening to Alice when she said that it would happen someday.

"**I was relieved when her father arrived home. **

**I could hear little from him as he drove down the street toward the house. Some vague annoyance…in the past, something from his day at work. Expectation mixed with hunger—I guessed that he was looking forward to dinner. But his thoughts were so quiet and contained that I could not be sure I was right; I only got the gist of them."**

"How fascinating," Edward murmured. "I really need to go down to the police station and listen to his thoughts."

"**I wondered what her mother sounded like—what the genetic combination had been that had formed her so uniquely."**

"That's a good point," Carlisle mused. "I wish we could find that out."

"I don't know if we ever will, though," Edward sighed. "Unless she comes to Forks herself."

"**Bella started awake, jerking up to a sitting position when the tyres of her father's car hit the brick driveway. She stared around herself, seeming confused by the unexpected darkness. For one brief moment, her eyes touched the shadows where I hid, but they flickered quickly away."**

"I wonder if she can sense that she's not alone?" Esme wondered.

"**Charlie?" She asked in a low voice, still peering into the trees surrounding the small yard."**

"She definitely can tell that something isn't quite right," Jasper said. "So I'd say probably, Esme."

"**The door of his car slammed shut, and she looked to the sound. She got to her feet quickly and gathered her things, casting one more look back toward the woods. I moved into a tree closer to the back window near the small kitchen, and listened to their evening. It was interesting to compare Charlie's words to his muffled thoughts. His love and concern for his only daughter were nearly overwhelming, and yet his words were always terse and casual. Most of the time, they sat in companionable silence."**

"It sounds like they're well-suited to live together," Esme smiled.

"**I heard her discuss her plans for the following evening in Port Angeles, and I refined my own plans as I listened. Jasper had not warned Peter and Charlotte to stay clear of Port Angeles." **

"I don't think they're going to hunt anywhere _near _Port Angeles," Alice muttered. "You're such a worrywart."

"**Though I knew that they had fed recently and had no intention of hunting anywhere in the vicinity of our home, I would watch her, just in case." **

"You just keep telling yourself that you're watching her because of that and not because you're in love with her," Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"**After all, there were always others of my kind out there. And then, all those human dangers that I had never much considered before now."**

"Which of course Bella would run into," Edward grumbled.

"**I heard her worry aloud about leaving her father to prepare dinner alone, and smiled at this proof to my theory—yes, she was a care-taker."**

Esme and Carlisle chuckled at this, as everyone stared at them pointedly. They didn't need to say anything for them to know why they were all looking.

"**And then I left, knowing I would return when she was asleep."**

"When you leave you could be missing the most important things," Alice muttered. "What if she happens to decide to read Dracula or something?"

"**I would not trespass on her privacy the way the peeping tom would have. I was here for her protection, not to leer at her in the way Mike Newton no doubt would, were he agile enough to move through the treetops the way I could. I would not treat her so crassly."**

"But what you're doing is so normal," Emmett chuckled.

"**My house was empty when I returned, which was fine by me. I didn't miss the confused or disparaging thoughts, questioning my sanity." **

"I'm surprised we don't understand more," Jasper said suddenly. "You're in love. We know how that feels."

"But you've never had to worry about a _human_," Alice said. "Edward does. We must think he's insane for not turning her immediately."

"**Emmett had left a note stuck to the newel post. **

_**Football at the Rainier field—c'mon! Please? **_

**I found a pen and scrawled the word **_**sorry**_** beneath his plea. The teams were even without me, in any case."**

"Skipping out on _football?_" Emmett was gobsmacked. "How!? Why!?"

"Because of Bella," Rosalie laughed. Emmett still found this absurd.

"**I went for the shortest of hunting trips, contenting myself with the smaller, gentler creatures that did not taste as good as the hunters, and then changed into fresh clothes before I ran back to Forks. **

**Bella did not sleep as well tonight. She thrashed in her blankets, her face sometimes worried, sometimes sad. I wondered what nightmare haunted her…and then realized that perhaps I really didn't want to know."**

"Oh, you would want to know anyway," Alice rolled her eyes as she laughed.

"Probably," Edward agreed quietly.

"**When she spoke, she mostly muttered derogatory things about Forks in a glum voice. Only once, when she sighed out the words "Come back" and her hand twitched open—a wordless plea—did I have a chance to hope she might be dreaming of me."**

"Of course she is," Rosalie said. "Who else has left?"

"Rosalie has a point," Jasper chuckled. "You've been gone for quite a while. She misses you."

"**The next day of school, the **_**last**_** day the sun would hold me prisoner, was much the same as the day before. Bella seemed even gloomier than yesterday, and I wondered if she would bow out of her plans—she didn't seem in the mood."**

"She misses you!" Alice clapped.

"**But, being Bella, she would probably put her friends' enjoyment above that of her own."**

"That's true," Edward smiled. "I wonder why she's even going there in the first place?"

"Probably to help Jessica and Angela pick out dresses for the dance," Alice guessed.

"How do you figure that?" Emmett wondered.

"She's Alice. She's talking about clothes," Edward chuckled. "She's never wrong about that."

Alice flashed a wide smile at him.

"**She wore a deep blue blouse today, and the colour set her skin off perfectly, making it look like fresh cream. **

**School ended, and Jessica agreed to pick the other girls up—Angela was going, too, for which I was grateful. **

**I went home to get my car. When I found that Peter and Charlotte were there, I decided could afford to give the girls an hour or so for a head start." **

"Yay!" Rosalie laughed. "We'll get to hear their thoughts!"

"**I would never be able to bear following behind them, driving at the speed limit—hideous thought.**

**I came in through the kitchen, nodding vaguely at Emmett's and Esme's greetings as I passed by everyone in the front room and went straight to the piano. **

_**Ugh, he's back.**_** Rosalie, of course."**

_Of course,_ Rosalie quoted, rolling her eyes. "Thanks, Edward."

"_**Ah, Edward. I hate to see him suffering so.**_** Esme's joy was becoming marred by concern. She **_**should**_** be concerned. This love story she envisioned for me was careening toward a tragedy more perceptibly every moment."**

"I disagree with that," Esme said. "Bella misses you. You're the one who's being stubborn."

"I'm being careful," Edward murmured. "There's a difference."

"But you're also being stubborn," Emmett grinned. _Mr King of Stubborn._

"_**Have fun in Port Angeles tonight,**_** Alice thought cheerfully. **_**Let me know when I'm allowed to talk to Bella."**_

Everybody laughed at that.

"_**You're pathetic. I can't believe you missed the game last night just to watch somebody sleep, **_**Emmett grumbled."**

Everybody laughed at that as well.

"I'm really different in the book, aren't I?" Emmett chuckled.

"Only a little," Alice smirked. "You just don't understand Edward and Bella in the book."

"**Jasper paid me no mind, even when the song I played came out a little more stormily than I'd intended. It was an old song, with a familiar theme: impatience. Jasper was saying goodbye to his friends, who eyed me curiously.**

_**What a strange creature,**_** the Alice-sized, white-blonde Charlotte was thinking. **_**And he was so normal and pleasant the last time we met."**_

Alice, Rosalie, Jasper and Emmett collapsed on the floor with laughter, while Esme and Carlisle looked on amusedly.

"Shut _up,_" Edward clapped his hands over his ears, groaning.

"**Peter's thoughts were in sync with hers, as was usually the case. **

_**It must be the animals. The lack of human blood drives them mad eventually, **_**he was concluding." **

That only sent them into a new bout of laughter, causing Edward to sigh in annoyance.

"**His hair was just as fair as hers, and almost as long. They were very similar—except for size, as he was almost as tall as Jasper—in both look and thought. A well matched pair, I'd always thought."**

"The best," Jasper agreed, practically crying with amusement.

"**Everyone but Esme stopped thinking about me after a moment, and I played in more subdued tones so that I would not attract notice.**

**I did not pay attention to them for a long while, just letting the music distract me from my unease. It was hard to have the girl out of sight and mind." **

_The girl,_ everyone thought simultaneously, all with an annoyed tone.

"**I only returned my attention to their conversation when the goodbyes grew more final."**

"Oh, they're leaving?" Alice frowned, upset by this.

"**If you see Maria again," Jasper was saying, a little warily, "tell her I wish her well."**

**Maria was the vampire who had created both Jasper and Peter—Jasper in the latter half of the nineteenth century, Peter more recently, in the nineteen forties. She'd looked Jasper up once when we were in Calgary. It had been an eventful visit—we'd had to move immediately. Jasper had politely asked her to keep her distance in the future."**

_Maria,_ Alice thought bitterly.

"**I don't imagine that will happen soon," Peter said with a laugh—Maria was undeniably dangerous and there was not much love lost between her and Peter. Peter had, after all, been instrumental in Jasper's defection. Jasper had always been Maria's favourite; she considered it a minor detail that she had once planned to kill him." **

"But somehow the rest of us can't consider it a minor detail," Alice muttered. Jasper kissed her head to soothe her.

"**But, should it happen, I certainly will."**

**They were shaking hands then, preparing to depart. I let the song I was playing trail off to an unsatisfying end, and got hastily to my feet. **

"**Charlotte, Peter," I said, nodding."**

"That's the most amazing farewell I have ever heard," Emmett said, wiping fake tears from his eyes. "So beautiful!"

Edward rolled his eyes.

"**It was nice to see you again, Edward," Charlotte said doubtfully. Peter just nodded in return."**

Everybody laughed at this.

"_**Madman,**_** Emmett threw after me. **

_**Idiot,**_** Rosalie thought at the same time. **

_**Poor boy. **_**Esme.**

**And Alice, in a chiding tone. **_**They're going straight east, to Seattle. Nowhere near Port Angeles.**_** She showed me the proof in her visions."**

"It sounds like I'm getting more and more fed up with you," Alice chuckled. "How spectacular. I hope I get mad enough that I just go over and start talking to Bella myself."

"**I pretended I hadn't heard that. My excuses were already flimsy enough."**

"Excuses," Jasper rolled his eyes.

"Jazz is right," Alice smirked. "You really need to stop calling them excuses, Edward."

Of course, Edward ignored them. **"Once in my car, I felt more relaxed; the robust purr of the engine Rosalie had boosted for me—last year, when she was in a better mood—was soothing." **

Rosalie chuckled upon hearing this, flashing an amused look at Edward.

"**It was a relief to be in motion, to know that I was getting closer to Bella with every mile that flew away under my tires."**

"That's the end of the chapter," Edward announced.

"Yay, Port Angeles!" Emmett cheered.

"Why on earth is that so exciting?" Rosalie shook her head.

"I have a feeling something exciting could happen," Alice murmured, her eyes glazed over as she searched the future. Then she let out a long sigh. "Unfortunately, since none of us know, I can't see what it will be." She said this darkly.

"Well, I suppose I'll read this one," Rosalie said, and took the book from Edward.

**A/N: None of them have any idea what is coming up, mwahahaha. **

**This is a rather short chapter, which explains how quickly I managed to complete it, but don't worry! You all know what happens next chapter ;) (I thought it was this chapter and was severely disappointed when I realised that it wasn't, sob). Also I just realised that I've hit 100k+ words with this chapter! *Confetti***

**Leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter and I will be back as soon as I can!**


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